On Sunday night, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro celebrated that “more than eight million citizens”, 41.5% of voters, voted for the Constituent Assembly.
We have a Constituent Assembly (…). It is the largest victory the Bolivarian revolution has ever had in all electoral history in 18 years,”
said the president, before hundreds of supporters celebrating in Plaza Bolívar, downtown Caracas.
Maduro’s celebration occurred in the middle of a great international rejection. Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru and the United States announced that they will not recognize the results of this elections promoted by the government and reported as fraudulent by the opposition.
Maduro’s fraudulent choice is another step towards dictatorship. We will not accept an illegitimate government. The Venezuelan people and democracy will prevail,”
twitted Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN.
Nine dead, clashes between demonstrators and security forces, attacks on polling stations and blockades marked the violent voting day of Nicolás Maduro’s Constituent Assembly.
Military and police forces were fighting in a pitched battle in Caracas and other parts of the country with a cross of tear gas, pellets, stones and Molotov cocktails, which were deadly in some areas.