VenezuelaMaduro began his third term amid fraud allegations
Nicolás Maduro began his third term as President of Venezuela today, serving from 2025 to 2031, after taking the oath of office before the National Assembly. His inauguration came amidst allegations of fraud surrounding the 2024 elections and opposition-led protests.
According to the National Electoral Council (CNE, as in Spanish), Maduro secured 51.2% of the valid votes in the elections held in late July 2024, defeating Edmundo González Urrutia, the candidate of the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD, as in Spanish), who obtained 44.2%. However, the CNE has not yet published the voting records, and its website is currently inactive.
The opposition, led by María Corina Machado and supported by various sectors of civil society, denounced irregularities in the electoral process, including vote count manipulation, voter intimidation, misuse of state resources, and restrictions in opposition-leaning areas.
In response, the PUD conducted a parallel vote count, claiming to have gathered over 80% of the digitalized vote tallies. Their analysis suggests that their candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, received 67% of the votes compared to Maduro’s 30.49%.
The CNE, however, defended the legitimacy of the process, emphasizing the involvement of international observers and the use of technical audits to ensure transparency and reliability in the elections.
Maduro’s re-election has sparked mixed reactions internationally. Countries such as Russia, China, and Iran have recognized and congratulated the president on his victory, while the United States, Canada, the European Union, and several Latin American governments expressed concerns over allegations of a lack of transparency and fairness in the elections.
Meanwhile, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released the report Venezuela: Serious Human Rights Violations in the Electoral Context in early January. The report documents state terrorism practices aimed at silencing dissenting voices and urges the government to “immediately cease political persecution, repression, and arbitrary detentions, as well as release all individuals arbitrarily detained.” The NGO Foro Penal estimated that in December 2024 there were 1.800 political prisoners in Venezuelan prisons.
At DL, we join the call for the National Electoral Council to promptly publish the detailed election results and restore its website. This is essential to demonstrate the legitimacy of the electoral process. Transparency is the cornerstone of any democracy.