Venezuela's Maduro wins landslide in election boycotted by opposition
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's party on Sunday swept the board in parliamentary and regional elections that were boycotted by the opposition in protest over his disputed re-election last year.
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela won 23 out of 24 state governor positions and scored 82.68 percent of the votes cast for lists of National Assembly members, the electoral council (CNE) said.
The constituency-level results of the parliamentary vote had yet to be tallied.
The main opposition group, led by popular figurehead Maria Corina Machado, had urged voters to stay away to avoid legitimizing what she described as a 'farce' election.
AFP journalists who visited polling stations in several cities said turnout was much lower compared to the July 2024 presidential election.
The CNE put voter turnout at a little over 42 percent of Venezuela's 21 million eligible voters.
The run-up to the vote was marked by mass arrests and a new crackdown on dissent.
Over 70 people were arrested on suspicion of planning to 'sabotage' the election.
Among those arrested was leading opposition member Juan Pablo Guanipa, held on charges of heading the 'terrorist network' behind the alleged plot.
Venezuela's authoritarian leftist government frequently alleges foreign-backed, opposition-led initiatives to topple Maduro, who took over on the death of his mentor, socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez in 2013.
On Sunday, Maduro hailed the election results as a 'victory of peace and stability' and said it 'proved the power of Chavismo' -- the left-wing, populist political movement founded by his predecessor.
'Farce'
The vote was for 285 members of the National Assembly and 24 governors -- including for the first time in Essequibo, an oil-rich region controlled by neighboring Guyana but claimed by Caracas.
But many Venezuelans said they lost faith in the electoral process after last July's presidential vote.
Electoral authorities quickly declared Maduro the winner of a third six-year term in that election, without releasing detailed results.
The opposition published its own tally from individual polling stations, showing a convincing win for its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
The crackdown on post-election protests left 28 dead, hundreds behind bars, and cemented Venezuela's pariah status on the world stage.
On Sunday before the results were announced, Maduro shrugged off the opposition boycott.
'When the opponent withdraws from the field, we advance and occupy the terrain,' he said matter-of-factly.
Machado published several pictures of deserted polling stations on social media.
She said the opposition had shown the election up as a 'grand farce' and called on the armed forces to 'act' against Maduro -- her latest call for them to mutiny.
The military has ignored previous such entreaties from Machado.
Writing on X, Gonzalez Urrutia, who went into exile in Spain late last year, said the boycott was a 'silent but resounding declaration that the desire for change, dignity and a future remains intact.'
'I'm not going to vote because I voted (in the presidential election) and they stole the elections. So it's really a farce,' said Candelaria Rojas Sierra, a 78-year-old retired civil servant in San Cristobal, on her way to mass to 'pray for Venezuela.'
Samadhi Romero, a 32-year-old university student, however defended the election as an 'important process of civic participation.'
She voted for Maduro's son, 35-year-old MP Nicolas Maduro Guerra, who was seeking re-election in Caracas.
A small opposition faction led by two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles refused to be part of the boycott, arguing that previous voter stayaways had merely allowed Maduro to expand his grip on power.
Capriles won a parliament seat in Sunday's vote.
Vote in disputed region
The election comes as the country's economy -- once the envy of Latin America, now in tatters after years of mismanagement and sanctions -- faces even further turmoil.
US President Donald Trump has revoked permission for oil giant Chevron to continue pumping Venezuelan crude, potentially depriving Maduro's administration of its last lifeline.
Washington has also revoked deportation protection from 350,000 Venezuelan migrants in the United States and expelled hundreds of others to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
Venezuela's elections for the National Assembly and for state governor of Essequibo sent alarm bells clanging internationally.
Guyana has administered the region for decades but Caracas has threatened to partially annex it -- a threat that Maduro repeated on Sunday.
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