Alwaght- Venezuelans on Sunday that coincided with the 70th birthday of the late President Hugo Chavez in the most decisive presidential election in the 25 years of the rule of the Socialist Party voted to elect their next president.
In the Venezuelan presidential election, which was held in a tight and highly polarized competition, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the main candidate of the left-wing parties won 51 percent of the votes and remained the president of this country for the third time and for another 6 years.
The National Electoral Council of Venezuela announced the turnout at 59 percent. In this election, 10 candidates from different political parties competed for the presidency.
Edmundo Gonzalez, the candidate of far-right pro-Western parties, was Maduro's main rival and even some analysts predicted that Gonzalez would win in this round of the competition, but the people re-elected Maduro.
After victory, Maduro announced to his supporters in the capital Caracas that his country will not interfere in the elections of any country, and now, as the president of Venezuela, "I want you to respect the sovereignty, the constitution and the will of the Venezuelan people."
Commemorating the late President Hugo Chavez, Maduro said: "This is your victory, Mr. Chavez. From today, peace and stability will be established in the country, this victory is for peace, stability and the legacy of the Republicans, and this victory is for equality."
Protests questioning health of elections
Despite the announcement of Maduro's victory, González and the opposition parties questioned the health of the election results and demanded the transparency of the votes. María Corina Machado, the leader of the Venezuelan opposition, refused to accept the defeat of her party in the elections, claiming that González won 70 percent of the votes. This is while the election observers who went to Venezuela from South Africa and Russia announced that the voting process in the presidential elections "was free, fair and transparent."
Earlier, Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuelan National Assembly and the candidate of the United Socialist Party and the Great Patriotic Pole had earlier warned against allegations of fraud by some opposition figures.
Rodríguez emphasized that behind these measures, they are looking to revive the crisis that took place in the Caribbean country in January 2019, when the then opposition leader Juan Guaidó named himself interim president of Venezuela.
Venezuelans frustrate the plots of the US and pro-Western parties
Venezuela's elections were held in a situation where in the past few years, the US and pro-Western parties bent over the backwards to overthrow Maduro's government, but he beat political and to some extent economic challenges and was able to organize the internal situation and regain full control of affairs. Maduro's re-election showed that the people do not accept the interventionist policies of the US and are not ready to leave the power in this oil-rich country to the pro-Western parties.
Having in mind that in recent decades Venezuela has acted as the shield of the left-wing governments of Latin America against the US imperialism, victory of Maduro means a big defeat to the White House that over the past years have put all kinds of pressures to sow division between the people and the government and install their pawn as president.
For this reason, the leaders of the White House could not hide their anger at the results of the elections. The Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claimed "we are deeply concerned about the announcement of Maduro's victory in Venezuela's presidential election.Maduro's victory does not reflect the will and votes of the Venezuelan people."
The US, which considers Latin America as its backyard since 1823 and based on the Monroe Doctrine, has always sought to align the countries of this region with its policies, and the countries that have stood up against Washington have been punished with sanctions.
Latin American countries have been fighting against US imperialist policies for decades and are facing Washington's extensive interference in their internal affairs.
The American government has repeatedly plotted coups against the independent legal governments of Latin America with the support of pro-Western forces in order to install submissive governments. Although the US has spent billions of dollars to bring pro-Western figures to power, Latino people have foiled the projects of the White House, and the rise of leftist and anti-Western leaders in Latin America confirms this reality.
The emergence of the left contributed to the growing pro-independence tendencies in the foreign policy of the countries of the region that sought to free themselves from the relationship of dependence on the US. This region now is not only not the US backyard, but also with the presence of extra-regional powers such as Russia, China and Iran, it has become a threat zone for it.
Maduro, another Chavez
Maduro was an unknown figure among the Venezuelan people until two decades ago. Before Chávez's sudden death, few thought that he, who was a simple truck driver, would one day lead the country.
Maduro became the leader of a trade union in the 1990s until he won a seat into the Venezuelan Legislative Assembly in 2000. Maduro held various positions in the government of Chávez, including foreign minister from 2006 to 2012, and in 2012, he was named vice president, and the Wall Street Journal described him as the most capable politician in Chávez's orbit at the time.
After Chávez's death in March 2013, Maduro won the majority of votes in early presidential elections and was elected as the 46th president of Venezuela. He inherited a country that, despite having the largest oil reserves in the world, was struggling with many economic crises, which made the situation difficult for the new leader.
During Maduro's first and second terms, Venezuela experienced a staggering 130,000 percent inflation, the highest in the world, but despite persistent economic challenges in recent decades, Maduro has recently implemented important reforms that have improved the economic outlook. On the eve of the elections, the Maduro government put curbing the inflation on its agenda, and in May, the annual inflation rate was estimated at 60 percent. Additionally, the Barbados Agreement facilitated the return of foreign oil companies to Venezuela and boosted capital flows. In reaction to recently extended US sanctions, the government had to cut spending and use its reserves to stabilize the exchange rate and inflation.
According to a report by Foreign Relations Council, Venezuelan GDP dropped by almost three quarters between 2014 and 2021, though the nation's economy in recent years expanded. In April, the International Monetary Fund said it expected Venezuela to post real GDP growth of 4 percent in 2024. Also, according to statistical reports, Venezuela recorded a monthly inflation rate of two percent in June, which was accompanied by an 8 percent economic growth. Due to the partial relief of the US sanctions and the improvement of Venezuela's relations with global actors, relative economic stability has stabilized in this country.
In such state of economic instability over the past decade in Venezuela, Maduro managed to improve the nation's economic conditions relatively. Perhaps if it was not for the American sanctions, his economic success could be remarkable. At present, he is seen the man in the country who has managed to neutralize the impacts of the US sanctions on national economy and this is regarded a feat for 11 years of his presidency.
