Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro narrowly wins ’rigged’ election

Nicolás Maduro declared victory in Venezuela’s presidential election despite widespread voting irregularities and allegations people were blocked from ballots or scared away from polling booths. The autocrat claimed to have secured a third-term after exit polls showed him losing as millions turned out to finally end 25 years of a single party rule. The country’s electoral authority (CNE) announced just after midnight on Monday with the majority of votes counted that Mr Maduro had won 51 per cent of the vote, while the main opposition candidate Edmundo González had 44 per cent. The tally was immediately called into question by the strongman president’s rivals and neighbouring countries who said the results were “difficult to believe”. “We won and the whole world knows it,” the country’s most popular opposition leader, María Corina Machado, said early on Monday. #venezuela #election #rigged Read more here: