By Jack Gleason ——Bio and Archives--August 2, 2024

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Venezuela tops the news with protests and riots across the country, when, after a six-hour delay in releasing the results, President Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in Sunday’s election with only 80% of the votes counted.

Some history from Wikipedia…

Since 1958, Venezuela has had a series of democratic governments. However, economic shocks in the 1980s led to several political crises… A collapse in confidence in the existing parties saw the 1998 election of former coup-involved career officer Hugo Chávez … the new government of Venezuela started several changes in the internal economy of the country, which resulted in a socioeconomic crisis… characterised by hyperinflation, escalating famine, disease, crime, and mortality, leading to massive emigration from the country.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) has been accused of being partial to the Maduro regime as witnesses from the opposing party were denied access to CNE headquarters as votes were counted and the CNE halted data being sent from local polling places to stop processing votes. Last year, the EU Parliament said Maduro was changing the CNE “to hamper the electoral process and quash any prospect of a return to democracy.”

Opposition leaders are claiming that their candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, received 70% of the vote against Maduro’s 30%. This reflects nationwide polling that showed the Venezuelan people are tired of Maduro’s running of the country, with hyper-inflation leading to poverty, famine and millions fleeing to other countries.

Edison Research published a nationwide exit poll showing González had won 65% of the vote, while Maduro won 31%. A respected local polling company predicted a 65% vote for Gonzalez and just under 14% for Maduro.

The Maduro government has been accused of widespread cheating in previous elections and this year they restricted the voting........

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