Before millions of Venezuelans lined up to vote in the most pivotal presidential election in Venezuela’s modern history, Edmundo González, the opposition’s 74-year-old candidate, told journalists that he was optimistic about victory. “We are confident that our margin of victory will be so overwhelming that it will open a new political reality in the country and that will open spaces for negotiation,” González, a former diplomat, told The Washington Post. “Maybe it’s wishful thinking.”
Indeed, it was. After nearly 10 million Venezuelans dropped their ballots, Nicolás Maduro, the strongman president who has ruled the oil-rich South American country for 11 years, declared himself the winner. According to the government-controlled National Electoral Council, Maduro received 51.2% of the vote to González 44.2%, a result opposition leader Maria Corina Machado quickly denounced as fraudulent. She wasn’t the only one. Chilean President Gabriel Boric tweeted that Chile would not recognize the tally. Javier Milei, Argentina’s president, said the same thing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed concerns that the vote didn’t reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.
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