Protests broke out in several Venezuelan cities on Monday after authoritarian leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro was formally declared a winner by the county\u2019s electoral authority in a presidential race marred by accusations of electoral fraud. <\/p>\n
In the capital of Caracas, protesters blocked roads, while hundreds more were seen walking down a main road banging pots and pans in protest against Maduro\u2019s victory on Sunday. At the city\u2019s main military base, where Maduro lives, people were seen setting fire to the strongman\u2019s election posters. <\/p>\n
The next 24 hours will be key in seeing how Maduro responds to the allegations against him. Analysts say there could be a new wave of unrest in the country if there are widespread protests against the regime. Street demonstrations in previous years were crushed by the country\u2019s military, which has long supported Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. <\/p>\n
Maduro smiled as he entered the National Electoral Council (CNE) before a Monday ceremony at which he was declared the winner, receiving cheers and congratulations from many in the audience. The CNE, which is stacked with Maduro allies, has yet to issue final vote tallies from Sunday\u2019s election. <\/p>\n
\u201cVenezuela has the best electoral system in the world!\u201d CNE president Elvis Amoroso announced before proceeding with the formal announcement. <\/p>\n
But the vote was riddled with claims of irregularities. It included opposition witnesses being denied access to the National Electoral Council (CNE) headquarters as votes were counted and the electoral authority allegedly prevented more votes from being processed. <\/p>\n
Maduro\u2019s government controls almost all state institutions, including the CNE, which was accused in 2017 of manipulating turnout figures by a software company that provided the voting technology. The CNE previously denied the assertion. <\/p>\n
The opposition coalition, headed by Maria Corina Machado, earlier rejected Maduro\u2019s win, saying the opposition\u2019s records show that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez received 70% of the votes against Maduro\u2019s 30%. \u201cWe won, and everyone knows it,\u201d Machado said. The coalition plans on making a statement later on Monday. <\/p>\n
Machado is part of a unified opposition movement that overcame their divisions to form a coalition known as the Democratic Unitary Platform. Its energized campaign, which enjoyed strong polling figures prior to Sunday\u2019s vote, was seen as the biggest challenge to Maduro\u2019s rule. <\/p>\n
The United States is among regional leaders, including Peru and Chile, that have raised questions about the validity of the result. <\/p>\n
Brazil, an important regional player, was softer in tone but said it was awaiting \u201cthe publication by the National Electoral Council of data broken down by polling station, an essential step for the transparency, credibility, and legitimacy of the election results,\u201d according to a statement by the foreign ministry. <\/p>\n
The US on Monday joined Venezuelan civil society groups and the opposition by calling on Venezuela\u2019s government to \u201cimmediately\u201d release specific data on the presidential election, citing concerns about the credibility of Maduro\u2019s victory. <\/p>\n
Senior Biden administration officials on Monday said Venezuelan election authorities must release the \u201cdetailed precinct level results\u201d from the election. One senior administration official noted that this data is required under Venezuela law and should be immediately available. Another said that if the election results are credible, \u201cthen this should be a very simple act and one that they would be able to fulfill quite easily.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is resistance to providing that additional information, then I think that becomes highly problematic when it comes to the ability of the United States or other members of the international community to judge whether these elections were in fact inclusive and credible,\u201d the second official said. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur deepest concern at this juncture is that the analysis and data that we have about this election \u2013 which is independent from the National Electoral Council results \u2013 is at odds with the results as they were announced by the Venezuelan authorities. And so that discrepancy, in our view, needs to be investigated and addressed before we can close the books on this election,\u201d the second official added. <\/p>\n
The officials declined to give specifics on the actions the US or international community would be prepared to take if the Venezuelan authorities do not release the data or if the results are determined to be fraudulent, but they did not rule out sanctions. <\/p>\n
US sanctions against Venezuela were first imposed in 2017 and gradually increased as the South American country\u2019s political crisis deepened in the following years. The opposition\u2019s accusations cast doubt on Venezuela\u2019s return to the international stage after Maduro pledged last year to hold free and fair elections in US-brokered talks, in exchange for sanctions relief. <\/p>\n
The first official said they would begin to have conversations in forums like the Organization of American States (OAS) and the G7 about the \u201ccollective way forward.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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