CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s Supreme Court has upheld President Nicolas Maduro’s claim that he won last month’s presidential election, saying results posted online that showed him losing by a landslide were falsified.
The sentence is Maduro’s latest attempt to quell protests and international criticism that erupted after a July 28 election in which the self-declared socialist leader sought a third six-year term.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (center), along with Congressman Diosdado Cabello (second from left) and First Lady Cilia Flores, participate in a pro-government rally in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
The high court is dominated by supporters of President Maduro and has rarely ruled against the government.
The decision, read out at an event on Thursday attended by government officials and foreign diplomats, came in response to Maduro’s call for a review of vote totals that showed he won by more than 1 million votes.
The main opposition coalition has accused Maduro of trying to steal the vote.
Thanks to their incredible field work on election day, opposition volunteers managed to collect copies of the results from 80% of the country’s 30,000 polling stations, and the opposition candidates Edmundo Gonzalez He won by more than 2 to 1. The official tally printed by each voting machine features a QR code that makes the results easy for anyone to read and nearly impossible to replicate.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, bottom right, waves a Venezuelan flag during a rally protesting the official results that declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of July’s presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado reaches out to grab a vote tally during a rally protesting the official results that declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of July’s presidential election, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)
The Supreme Court’s decision to certify the results contradicted findings by experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, who were invited to monitor the election. Both experts found the results released by the authorities to be unreliable. In particular, the outside experts noted that the authorities had not released a breakdown of the results for each of the country’s 30,000 polling stations, as they have done in almost every previous election.
The government has alleged without evidence that a foreign cyber attack by hackers in North Macedonia delayed the counting of votes and the release of results on election night.
Gonzalez was the only one of the 10 nominees who did not participate in the Supreme Court audit, a fact that the justices took note of and in their decision accused him of trying to spread panic.
The former diplomat and his main backer, opposition figure Maria Corina Machado, disappeared after the election as security forces arrested more than 2,000 people and cracked down on spontaneous demonstrations that broke out across the country in protest at the results.
More than 50 countries will hold elections in 2024
Many foreign governments, including the United States and Maduro’s allies, have called on authorities to release a full breakdown of the results.
Chile’s leftist president, Gabriel Boric, one of the main critics of Maduro’s election strategy, slammed the Supreme Court’s findings.
“Today, Venezuela’s TSJ finally confirmed the fraud,” he said on his X account, referring to the high court’s initials. “The Maduro regime has obviously welcomed the ruling enthusiastically… There is no doubt that we are facing a dictatorship that is rigging our elections.”
