Venezuela’s President Maduro Hails Controversial Election Victory Al Jazeera
go to original July 31, 2017

Update: US Imposes Financial Sanctions on Venezuelan 'Dictator' Nicolas Maduro (Sky News)

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has claimed victory in an election to pick a controversial new constitution-writing body that prompted deadly violence and international condemnation.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council announced on Sunday that more than eight million people voted to grant Maduro's ruling Socialist Party virtually unlimited powers with a Constituent Assembly.

The turnout was more than double the estimates of both the government's political opponents and independent experts.

"We have a Constituent Assembly," Maduro said in a speech to hundreds of supporters in central Caracas after the electoral authority put the voter turnout at 41.5 percent.

"It is the biggest vote the revolution has ever scored in its 18-year history."

Maduro was referring to the year his mentor Hugo Chavez came to power.

The voting started at 6am local time on Sunday with almost 20 million Venezuelans registered to cast their ballots, according to Telesur, a pro-government pan-Latin American media network.

The final count was met with mockery and anger from members of the opposition, who said they believed between two million and three million people voted.

The opposition parties had boycotted the polls, which they say were aimed at consolidating Maduro's power.



Read the rest at Al Jazeera

Related: Venezuela: What Is a National Constituent Assembly? (Al Jazeera)

Related: U.S. Prepares New Sanctions Against Venezuela After Controversial Election (NPR)

Related: Venezuela Socialists Celebrate New Congress, Pariah Status Looms (Reuters)

Related: What Next for Venezuela? Crisis and Isolation (@CNNMoney)

Related: Venezuela Constitutional Vote Marred by Violence, Death (Al Jazeera)

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