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President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Attorney General Cilia Flores. AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa
Presidential Election
Venezuela confirms Nicolas Maduro as president
It’s finally official after demands for recount: The acting president will succeed the late Hugo Chavez, beating his opponent by just over 1 per cent.
VENEZUELA’S ELECTORAL AUTHORITIES have confirmed acting President Nicolas Maduro as the winner of the weekend election to succeed Hugo Chavez, despite opposition demands for a recount.
National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena handed the certified results to Maduro after proclaiming him “president-elect of Venezuela” following the tight election against opposition leader Henrique Capriles.
Lucena gave final figures for the vote, and said Maduro won with 50.75 per cent of the vote compared to 48.97 per cent for Capriles — a difference of around 265,000 votes.
As the council made the announcement, Capriles supporters banged pots and pans outside their windows in an eastern neighborhood of Caracas as a form of protest.
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