President Nicolás Maduro has been declared the winner in Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, held on Sunday (local time).
However, opposing candidate Edmundo González has also declared victory.
Now, protesters and international governments are calling for Venezuela’s election agency to release the full results.
Maduro & Chávez
Maduro, a member of the United Socialist Party (PSUV), was a bus driver and union leader before he entered politics. He became Venezuela’s Foreign Affairs Minister in 2006, working with former President Hugo Chávez.
After Chávez was diagnosed with cancer, he endorsed Maduro as his successor. Maduro has been President since Chávez’s death in 2013.
Maduro has been criticised by his opponents for Venezuela’s poor economic performance. In February, a UN representative found over half of Venezuelans can’t afford to buy food.
González
Opposing candidate González is a member of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), an opposition coalition. He was not well-known before becoming a presidential candidate.
González has served as Venezuela’s ambassador to Algeria and Argentina.
He was called into the election in April, after opposition leader María Corina Machado was barred from office over allegations of fraud. She has worked closely with González on his campaign.
2024 Venezuela election polls
On Sunday, despite exit polls showing a significant majority for González, Maduro was announced as the winner of the 2024 Venezuela election.
After counting 80% of the country’s votes, the National Electoral Council announced that Maduro won 51% of the votes while González received 44%. It did not release official vote tallies.
González has since released a different vote count, which he says is based on direct results from voting booths. That count shows Maduro losing by 3.5 million votes.
Tensions
Since the election result was announced, political unrest has continued to rise across the country.
Protesters have clashed with security forces, with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas at crowds.
Following the announcement of Maduro’s presidency, González said on X: “Let us defend and celebrate democracy in peace.”
Other countries
China, Russia, and Iran’s leaders have publicly congratulated Maduro.
Bolivian President Luis Arce also congratulated Maduro, saying: “The will of the Venezuelan people at the polls has been respected.”
Other nations in the region have not accepted the result. Chilean President Gabriel Boric warned he “will not recognise any result that is not verifiable.”
Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles similarly denied Maduro’s victory.
The European Union described Venzuela’s political landscape as “an uneven playing field”. It said the election was “marred by numerous flaws and irregularities.”
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said it was “critical that every vote be counted fairly and transparently… the international community is watching this very closely”.
The U.S. Government has previously imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry and on certain citizens. It issued fresh sanctions earlier this year after it found Maduro didn’t meet election commitments.
