US expresses 'serious concerns' over Venezuela election after Maduro claims victory

Nicolás Maduro after declaring victory Credit: AP

The US has expressed "serious concerns" about Venezuela's election results after President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner.

The US and other foreign Governments, have not yet recognised the results of the election which saw both candidates claim victory in Sunday's presidential vote.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has “serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people.”

Edmundo González Credit: AP

Maduro, who has ruled Venezuela since 2013, reportedly won the election with 51% of the vote, compared to 44% for opposition candidate Edmundo González, according to the National Electoral Council.

González said: "Venezuelans and the entire world know what happened."

On the streets of the capital city, Caracas, anger was evident as the results were announced.

"This isn't possible," one person said wiping away tears. "This is a humiliation.”

González supporters hoped for a landslide victory, seeing it as a chance to end 25 years of single-party rule.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado claimed González’s victory margin was “overwhelming,” based on tallies from campaign representatives at about 40% of the ballot boxes.

Supporters of opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez gather outside a voting centre Credit: AP

Authorities delayed releasing results from the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, promising to do so in the “coming hours,” which hampered efforts to verify the outcome.

After claiming victory, Maduro claimed unidentified foreign enemies tried to hack the voting system.

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“This is not the first time that they have tried to violate the peace of the republic," he said.

People on both sides of the political spectrum have indicated they might join the 7.7 million Venezuelans who have already left the country if Maduro serves another six-year term.

Venezuela sits atop the world's largest proven oil reserves, and once boasted Latin America's most advanced economy. But it entered into a free fall after Maduro took the helm.

Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led first to social unrest and then mass emigration.

Economic sanctions from the U.S. seeking to force Maduro from power after his 2018 reelection — which the U.S. and dozens of other countries condemned as illegitimate — only deepened the crisis.

Despite this, the International Monetary Fund forecasts the economy will grow 4% this year - one of the fastest in Latin America - after having shrunk 71% from 2012 to 2020.

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