Caracas, Venezuela

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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday (July 29) has won the election with 51 per cent of the vote and a third term in office, announced the country's government-controlled electoral authority even though multiple exit polls had indicated a victory for the opposition. The electoral authority said that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won 44 per cent of the vote.

Maduro, 61, will now be president for another six years. In office since 2013, he is accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of rising authoritarianism.

Sunday's election was the product of a mediated deal reached last year between the government and the opposition.

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What did independent polls predict?

According to a report by the news agency AFP, independent polls predicted Sunday's vote would bring an end to 25 years of "Chavismo," the populist movement founded by Maduro's socialist predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chavez.

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Minutes after the announcement of the result, Maduro addressed supporters saying, "There will be peace, stability, and justice." He had previously warned of a bloodbath if he lost the election.

AFP reported that rejecting the opinion polls, the government relied on its own numbers to assert Maduro would defeat Gonzalez.

Oppn rejects Maduro win claim

As Maduro's supporters celebrated, opposition voters waited to hear from Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado. Gonzalez had replaced Machado on the ticket after authorities loyal to Maduro excluded her from the race.

Later on Monday, the opposition coalition rejected the win claimed by Maduro and announced by the electoral authority, saying it had garnered 70 per cent of the vote, not 44 per cent as reported by the authority.

Addressing a press conference, Machado said, "We want to say to all of Venezuela and the world that Venezuela has a new president-elect and it is Edmundo Gonzalez."

International reaction to poll result

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that Washington had serious concerns that the election results declaring Maduro the winner were not accurate. 

"We have serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people," Blinken said in Japan.

He added that every vote should be counted fairly and transparently, "that election officials immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers without delay, and that the electoral authorities publish the detailed tabulation of votes."

Chile's President Gabriel Boric, meanwhile, said that the election result was hard to believe.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares urged total transparency in the vote count, while Colombia called for an independent audit of the votes.

"The government of Costa Rica rejects categorically the proclamation of Nicolas Maduro as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which we consider fraudulent," Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves said in a post on X.

(With inputs from agencies)