Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro secured re-election with 51.
2 percent of the votes cast on Sunday, according to the country's electoral council. The campaign was marred by allegations of opposition intimidation and widespread fears of electoral fraud.
Elvis Amoroso, the head of the CNE electoral body, which is largely loyal to the government, announced that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received 44.2 percent of the votes. Independent polls had predicted that the election could mark the end of 25 years of "Chavismo," the populist movement founded by Maduro's predecessor and mentor, the late Hugo Chavez.
Addressing his supporters shortly after the results were announced, the 61-year-old Maduro promised "peace, stability, and justice." While his supporters celebrated, opposition voters awaited responses from Gonzalez Urrutia and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed "serious concerns" about the election outcome, questioning whether it truly reflected the will of Venezuelan voters.
Since taking office in 2013, Maduro has overseen a dramatic decline in Venezuela's economy. The country's GDP has plummeted by 80 percent in a decade, leading over seven million of its 30 million citizens to emigrate. Maduro has faced accusations of jailing critics and harassing the opposition amid an increasingly authoritarian regime.
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