The message from the government-loyal electoral commission about Maduro's victory came on Monday evening.
Directly after the decision, spontaneous protests broke out, primarily in the capital and the Petare district. Posters with Maduro were torn down by masked men, while police and security forces gathered around the demonstrators. Despite the police presence, regime-critical chants were shouted: "It will fall, the government will fall".
Opposition claims victory
The opposition has claimed that its candidate, Edmundo González, should have received an "overwhelming" majority in the election.
In connection with the message from Caracas, nine Latin American countries demanded an independent review of the election results.
Costa Rica's authorities considered the election to be "a fraud." Peru temporarily recalled its ambassador, and Chile's President Gabriel Boric wrote on X that the election result is "hard to believe." Argentina's right-wing populist President Javier Milei hoped that "dictator Maduro" would be ousted.
Panama announced that it would recall its diplomats from Venezuela.
In the international community, the USA, the UK, France, and Spain led the criticism of the election results.
We have strong concerns that the publicly announced result does not reflect the will or votes of the Venezuelan people, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a trip to Japan.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the electoral authorities to report the result with full transparency, and broken down in detail for each polling station.
Deep division
However, several countries in Latin America simultaneously showed their support for Maduro as president. Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel expressed his support for Maduro. Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Honduras also backed the sitting president. Mexico announced that it would recognize the result presented by the electoral commission.
Maduro and his government also received support from both Russia and China. President Vladimir Putin quickly congratulated Maduro on his election victory, and added:
Remember that you are always welcome to Russia.
China hailed its friendship with Maduro.
China and Venezuela are good friends. We are ready to strengthen our partnership, which benefits the people of both countries, said a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
