Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claimed today that an attempted coup d'état "of a fascist nature" was underway, amid doubts about the process of his re-election, which has been rejected by the opposition and part of the international community.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela officially proclaimed Nicolás Maduro as President today, after announcing on Sunday night that the Chavista leader, in power since 2013, had won the elections, a result rejected by the opposition.
During the proclamation ceremony in Caracas, the country's capital, the president of the CNE, Elvis Amoroso, stated that "the presidential election took place in a climate of respect, peace and democratic participation".
This, the representative stressed, "although some attempted to generate violence" and "many attacks" on the electoral system, which he did not specify.
Despite everything, he said, with the "technical, moral and ethical capacity" of the CNE, "all obstacles were overcome".
Amoroso insisted that Maduro obtained the majority of valid votes in the presidential elections, "being elected for a term of six more years".
The term will officially begin on January 10, 2025, the date set for his inauguration.
He added that the President was elected "by the will of the sovereign people", so his proclamation is made in accordance with "the constitutional and legal provisions that govern electoral processes".
After the ceremony, Elvis Amoroso thanked the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB) and the State security forces "for successfully guaranteeing security and peace before, during and after the electoral process".
He also expressed his "special recognition and gratitude" to all the international and national observation missions that monitored the electoral process.
In Sunday's elections, Maduro faced the majority opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, and eight other candidates.
Nicolás Maduro reacted immediately to the CNE's proclamation, stressing that he had achieved the feat of defeating "fascism" in Sunday's elections.
"Defeating fascism, the demons, the demons, is a historic feat and our people have achieved it, our people have achieved it again," stressed the Chavista leader after receiving from the hands of the CNE president, Elvis Amoroso, the symbolic credential that will allow him to govern the country until 2031.
On Sunday night, the CNE announced that outgoing President Nicolás Maduro had been re-elected for a third consecutive six-year term with 51.20% of the vote.
Maduro obtained 5.15 million votes, ahead of the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who obtained just under 4.5 million votes (44.2%), according to the official figures announced.
Several countries have already congratulated Maduro on his victory, such as Russia, Nicaragua, Cuba, China and Iran, but other states in the international community, and recognized as democratic, have shown great concern about the transparency of the elections in Venezuela.
This was the case of Portugal, Spain and the United States.
Nine Latin American countries - Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay - today called for a "complete review" of the election results in Venezuela, a country with a significant community of Portuguese and Portuguese descendants.
