US threatens sanctions as Maduro wins
Venezuelan officials declared socialist leader Nicolas Maduro the easy winner of yesterday’s presidential election, while his leading challenger questioned the legitimacy of a vote marred by irregularities and called for a new ballot to prevent a brewing social crisis from exploding.
The National Election Council announced that with almost 93 per cent of polling stations reporting, Maduro won nearly 68 per cent of the votes, beating nearest challenger Henri Falcon by more than 40 points.
The disputed victory is likely to heighten international pressure on Maduro, as voter turnout was the lowest in a presidential race since the start of Venezuela’s leftist revolution two decades ago. Even as voting was taking place yesterday, a senior State Department official warned that the US might press ahead on threats of imposing crippling oil sanctions on the nation that sits atop the world’s largest crude reserves.
The election ‘‘without any doubt lacks legitimacy and we categorically refuse to recognise this process,’’ Falcon told supporters before the results were announced.
Falcon was joined in his call for a new election by third-place finisher Javier Bertucci, who got around 11 per cent of the vote. Bertucci, a TV evangelist, stopped short of challenging the results, saying what he called a mistaken opposition boycott that led to the lowest voter turnout in two decades of socialist rule also boosted Maduro.
But he said that in the event of a new vote, Maduro should do the courageous thing and desist from running. If Maduro presses forward, he said, Venezuela would explode from a social crisis marked by widespread food shortages and hyperinflation before his new six-year term starts next January.
Maduro immediately called for dialogue with his presidential opponents. But he showed no sign of replaying Sunday’s vote.
‘‘The electoral processes have ended for now,’’ he said, saying that he wanted to spend the next two years before scheduled congressional elections to focus on repairing the economy.
He also slammed Falcon, who like him was an acolyte of the late President Hugo Chavez. Maduro said he had never seen a candidate dispute results even before they were announced. ‘‘Sooner or later, they all break in the face of threats from the imperialists,’’ he said, appealing to the US to also reconsider its belligerent stance toward his government.
Both of Maduro’s opponents accused electoral authorities of turning a blind eye to a slew of blatant violations, including the establishment of red tents just steps away from voting centers where ruling party activists scanned on cellphones government-issued ‘‘Fatherland Cards.’’ Many voters said they hoped it would bring them a cash bonus or even a free apartment. AP