Shops and public transport in Venezuela came to a standstill on Wednesday amid election tensions, rumors of opposition arrests and sporadic violence. The electoral council also declared socialist President Nicolás Maduro, who has ruled the country since 2013, the winner of Sunday's vote. However, the opposition claims that with 90% of the votes counted, its candidate Edmundo González has more than twice the support of Maduro.
As the contest entered its third day, amid growing calls for greater transparency, the government insisted that it had failed to produce comprehensive vote totals at the polling station level due to interference in the system originating in North Macedonia that had caused the prolonged delay, but it did not provide any evidence to prove this.
The U.S.-based Carter Center, one of the few independent monitors authorized to observe the election, said in a statement Tuesday that the election “cannot be considered democratic.” The Center also said the process favored Maduro and was flawed, including the failure of the electoral authority to publish disaggregated results.
Finally, in comments broadcast on state television on Wednesday, Maduro said he rejected all threats, including the possibility of new U.S. sanctions.
Electoral tension in Venezuela
Maduro says his socialist party will release vote counts and has asked the top court to ask the opposition to do the same.
On Monday morning, Venezuela's electoral authority – which the opposition accuses of being under Maduro's influence – announced that he had won another term, attracting 51% of the vote, with a seven-point margin over González.
But shortly thereafter, Venezuela’s main opposition alliance launched a website with detailed ballot-box-level vote counts, covering counts from the vast majority of the country’s 30,000 electronic voting machines, including scans of ballot-count printouts.
On Wednesday afternoon, González was leading with 67% against Maduro's 30%, with 82% from the counted sections.
Reuters could not verify the authenticity of each individual count. Independent exit polls, however, showed a similar margin of victory for Gonzalez.
Meanwhile, international pressure is growing on the government to release full results, including pressure from the US and Brazil.
The dispute has led to deadly and widespread protests that Maduro and his allies in the military have denounced as a coup attempt. Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday it had received reports of 20 deaths in post-election demonstrations.
Source: Deisy Buitrago and Maria Ramirez | Notícias Agrícolas
