In the past, Venezuela was the most advanced economy in Latin America. The country with the largest proven oil reserves in the world, however, with the rise of Hugo Cháves and subsequently Nicolás Maduro, fell into a huge crisis, economic collapse and mass exodus of the population. Over the past ten years, eight million people have left the country. The hope for Venezuela was therefore the presidential elections. Polls suggested that opposition candidate Emundo González Urrutia could defeat Maduro with more than 60 percent. However, the Central Electoral Commission controlled by Maduro announced that the winner is the current president with 51 percent and his opponent got 44 percent. But as Jiří Sobota says in Výtáh Respekt, the chance that the results are not falsified is essentially minimal: “Maduro has falsified elections before, he will undoubtedly do it again. They vote electronically, so it is poorly controlled. I don’t think anyone could have imagined that Nicolas Maduro would admit that he lost the election and walk away in peace. That’s a quarter-century-long criminal regime that’s probably connected to mafias and the like. The opposition hoped that the difference in the polls was so significant that they wouldn’t have the audacity to falsify the results.” What do the election results mean for Venezuela? And could international pressure work ?
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