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Political tensions in Venezuela soared anew after President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of Sunday’s election and the opposition, rejecting that claim, called on the military to enforce what it said was the will of the people.
After a lengthy delay following the closing of polls, Venezuela’s electoral center said Maduro won 51.2% of the vote, compared with 44.2% for rival Edmundo González. But opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was barred from running, said her coalition had gained access to 40% of the tabulated votes and had González winning 70% of the vote so far.
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Machado told reporters after the announcement that Venezuela’s armed forces “have a duty to ensure that the popular sovereignty expressed in the vote is respected.” González, who relied on a network of roughly 30,000 volunteer witnesses at polling stations, urged supporters to avoid protests and said he’d advise them on next steps.
As the results were announced, a pro-government crowd that had gathered in front of Miraflores, the presidential palace, burst into applause. Fireworks could be heard throughout the city, along with people banging on pots and pans—a popular form of protest in Latin America.
Venezuela’s dollar bonds due in 2026 fell 0.9 cents to 20.7 cents on the dollar, underscoring already-low investor confidence in the South American nation.
The dispute leaves Venezuela, which has faced bouts of hyperinflation and seen its oil industry implode under Maduro’s watch, at risk of more turmoil. Sunday’s election was seen as one of the opposition’s best chances at unseating Maduro since he succeeded the late Hugo Chavez in 2013.
They were bolstered by an exit poll conducted by U.S. firm Edison Research, which had González winning by more than 30 percentage points.
The declaration of a Maduro victory prompted the U.S. and some other nations to quickly express…
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