Venezuela’s opposition claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential election, setting up a showdown with the government, which earlier declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner.
“The Venezuelans and the entire world know what happened,” opposition candidate Edmundo González said in his first remarks.
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WATCH HEREOpposition leader Maria Corina Machado said the margin of González's victory was “overwhelming" based on voting tallies it had received from campaign representatives from about 40% of ballot boxes nationwide.
Closer to home, several South Florida and state leaders have spoken out about the election results, and are denouncing Maduro being declared the winner.
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"The Venezuelan people headed to the polls yesterday to make their voices heard and reclaim freedom for their nation. Now, Maduro is attempting to steal the election despite exit polls showing a decisive win for the opposition," Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said in a statement.
"The will of the people must prevail. The U.S. and the international community must demand a transparent process to account for the election results – and President Biden and world leaders must act swiftly to impose the most aggressive sanctions possible, to send a clear and unwavering message that anything short of accepting the legitimate results will be met with strong actions! The world is watching and we stand with the Venezuelan people as they fight for democracy and freedom," the statement said.
Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar shared her sentiments on X, with a post in Spanish that read "Shamelessly, Maduro has once again tried to steal the elections. It is an insult to the Venezuelan people. Congress will denounce him. The White House will denounce him. The International Community will denounce him. It won't be so easy this time. You will not be able to sustain this aggression. Just watch!"
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Sen. Marco Rubio posted his own response on X saying, "The Maduro regime in Venezuela has just carried out the most predictable and ridiculous sham election in modern history."
Rep. Carlos Gimenez denounced the election results, them a scam.
The National Electoral Council, which is controlled by Maduro loyalists, earlier said Maduro had secured 51% of the vote to 44% for González. But it didn't release the tallies from each of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, promising only to do so in the “coming hours,” hampering the ability to verify the results.
Foreign leaders held off recognizing the results.
