Maduro likely to win Venezuela election

CARACAS/BARQUISIMETO: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was seeking a six-year term on Sunday in an apparently poorly attended vote condemned by foes as the “coronation” of a dictator and likely to bring fresh foreign sanctions.

With the mainstream opposition boycotting the election, two of his most popular rivals barred from standing and state institutions in loyalists’ hands, the 55-year-old is expected to win despite his unpopularity.

That could trigger oil sanctions from Washington, and more censure from the European Union and Latin America.

The self-described “son” of Hugo Chavez says he is battling an “imperialist” plot to crush socialism and take over the OPEC member’s oil wealth. But opponents say the leftist leader has destroyed Venezuela’s oncewealthy economy and ruthlessly crushed dissent.

Maduro’s main challenger is former state governor Henri Falcon, who predicts an upset due to widespread fury among Venezuela’s 30 million people at the economic meltdown.

Most analysts believe, however, that Falcon has only a slim chance given abstention, the vote-winning power of state handouts, and Maduro’s allies on the election board.

Results were expected by late evening.

Attendance appeared low across the country, from wealthier eastern Caracas to the fiercely anti-Maduro Andean mountains near Colombia. There were some lines, however, outside polling stations in poorer government strongholds.