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Maduro immediately celebrated his “victory,”
claiming
there will be “peace, stability, and justice” in Venezuela. Last week, the socialist dictator
threatened
a “bloodbath” if he did not “win” on Sunday.
“I want peace, love and understanding. And I have the power you have given me and the civil-military-police union to promote the most powerful and great national dialogue of economic, social, cultural, political, moral and spiritual understanding,” Maduro said.
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Maduro also claimed that the Venezuelan electoral system suffered a “hacking” attempt that allegedly sought to prevent the publication of his “victory” results.
“Venezuela suffered an attack, a massive hacking. We already know which country it comes from, a massive attack on the CNE transmission system because the demons and the demons did not want it to be totalized and the result to be given today,” Maduro said, without providing further details or evidence that substantiated his claims.
Maduro’s “victory” was heavily questioned by several regional leaders and by U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who said he had “serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people.”
Blinken repeatedly
promoted
the idea of having Maduro hold a “free and fair” election in Venezuela for years, apparently trusting the CNE to administer one.
Shortly before the CNE proclaimed Maduro’s “victory,” Argentine President Javier Milei announced in a social media post that Argentina would not recognize another fraud and hoped that the Venezuelan Armed Forces “will defend democracy and the popular will this time.”
“Dictator Maduro, out! Venezuelans chose to end the communist dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro. The data announce a crushing victory for the opposition and the world is waiting for it to recognize defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence and death,” Milei’s message read.
Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino urged Maduro to acknowledge his defeat, stating that the difference in votes against the ruling socialists was overwhelming.
“They lost in every state by more than 35 percent,” Mondino
said
. “There is no fraud or violence that hides reality.”
Chilean far-left President Gabriel Boric, who has regularly been critical of Maduro’s human rights abuses,
stressed
that the results published by the Maduro regime are “difficult to believe” and announced that Chile will not recognize any result that is “not verifiable.”
President of Costa Rica Rodrigo Chaves Robles
described
the results as “fraudulent” in a statement and asserted that “the democratic governments of the continent and international organizations to ensure that the sacred will of the Venezuelan people is respected.”
Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo
expressed
that he had received CNE’s results “with doubts.”
“For this reason, the reports of the electoral observation missions are essential, which today, more than ever, must defend the vote of Venezuelans,” Arévalo said.
Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea
condemned
the Maduro regime’s fraud attempt and
announced
that it had summoned the Venezuelan ambassador to Lima.
Other regional leftist leaders close to Maduro, such as Colombia’s Gustavo Petro and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, have not publicly commented on Maduro’s “victory” at press time.
Maduro was congratulated by the allied regimes of
Cuba
,
Nicaragua
,
Bolivia
,
China
,
Russia
, and
Iran
.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter
here
.