CARACAS, Venezuela, CMC—Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has declared himself the winner in Sunday’s presidential election, an outcome that the opposition is disputed.
According to partial results announced by the head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso—a close ally of Maduro—with 80% of ballots counted, Maduro had 51% of the vote, compared to 44% for his main rival.
However, the opposition dismissed the CNE’s announcement as fraudulent and promised to challenge the result.
It said its candidate, Edmundo González, had won 70% of the votes and insisted he was the rightful president-elect.
The opposition said vote tallies it had received, as well as quick counts, showed Mr González had a lead of 40 percentage points over the incumbent.
Opposition parties had united behind González to unseat Maduro after 11 years in power.
Opinion polls conducted ahead of the election had suggested González would roundly defeat the president.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed his skepticism after the result was announced, saying the United States had “serious concerns that the declared outcome does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people.”
In addition, the UK Foreign Office also expressed concern over the results and has called for the “publication of full, detailed results to ensure that the outcome reflects the votes of the Venezuelan people.”
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