Maduro claims vote win, opposition vows protests
CARACAS: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory Monday in an internationally criticized election for an assembly to rewrite the constitution, but the opposition cried fraud and vowed to keep protesting despite a deadly crackdown.
Ten people were killed in a wave of bloodshed that swept Venezuela Sunday as Maduro defied an opposition boycott and international condemnation – including the threat of new US sanctions – to hold elections for a powerful new “Constituent Assembly.”
Protesters attacked polling stations and barricaded streets around the country, drawing a bloody response from security forces, who opened fire with live ammunition in some cases.
Despite the boycott and the unrest, the head of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena – one of 13 Maduro allies already slapped with sanctions by US President Donald Trump’s administration – said there had been “extraordinary turnout” of more than eight million voters, 41.5 percent of the electorate.
Dressed in bright red, his fist clenched and face beaming, Maduro hailed it as a win in a speech to hundreds of cheering supporters in central Caracas.
“It is the biggest vote the revolution has ever scored in its 18-year history,” he said, referring to the year his late mentor, Hugo Chavez, came to power.
“What the hell do we care what Trump says?”
There was blistering international condemnation of the vote, led by Washington.
The constituent assembly aims to “undermine the Venezuelan people’s right to self-determination,” US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement, threatening further “strong and swift” sanctions on Maduro’s government.
The election was also condemned by the European Union, Canada and Latin American powers including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Senior opposition leader Henrique Capriles called on Venezuelans to continue defying the deeply unpopular Maduro with new protests against the election and the “massacre” he said accompanied it.
“We do not recognize this fraudulent process,” he said, calling for nationwide marches yesterday and a mass protest in Caracas Wednesday, the day the new assembly is due to be installed. — AFP