Venezuela’s ruling party on Sunday won the majority of mayoral seats in elections boycotted by the main opposition, coinciding with the anniversary of President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election last year.
The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela won 285 of 335 mayoralties, according to Maduro’s own projections, which he celebrated with supporters early yesterday in Caracas’ Bolivar Square.
“Victory, popular victory!” Maduro shouted. “Democracy and peace, the unity of the people, have triumphed.”
Photo: EPA
The country’s electoral authority, accused of loyalty to Maduro, put turnout at 44 percent.
That represents just more than 6 million voters, although polling stations in several cities showed low turnout throughout the day.
In one year, Maduro has won the presidency, absolute control of parliament, 23 of 24 governorships, and now municipal power.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, whose candidate lost to Maduro in the presidential election last year, said on X: “What happened between July 28, 2024, and today?”
“That day, 70 percent of the country voted for EDMUNDO GONZALEZ, and today, 90 percent said NO to MADURO,” referring to what she said was the abstention rate.
A dissident wing of Machado’s movement participated in the elections and, according to Maduro, won 50 mayoralties.
“The new opposition,” the president said, while the opposition leader branded them Maduro collaborators.
Maduro was planning to lead a demonstration yesterday to celebrate the anniversary of his victory, which the US and a dozen other countries did not recognize.
“Maduro is NOT the President of Venezuela and his regime is NOT the legitimate government,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X on Sunday, calling the president the leader of a “narco-terror” organization.
This month, Washington and Caracas negotiated a prisoner swap that saw the release of 10 Americans and US residents imprisoned in Venezuela for 252 Venezuelan migrants detained in a notorious prison in El Salvador.
FOREST SITE: A rescue helicopter spotted the burning fuselage of the plane in a forested area, with rescue personnel saying they saw no evidence of survivors A passenger plane carrying nearly 50 people crashed yesterday in a remote spot in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur, with no immediate signs of survivors, authorities said. The aircraft, a twin-propeller Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar at about 1pm. A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a forested mountain slope about 16km from Tynda. Videos published by Russian investigators showed what appeared to be columns of smoke billowing from the wreckage of the plane in a dense, forested area. Rescuers in
‘ARBITRARY’ CASE: Former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila has maintained his innocence and called the country’s courts an instrument of oppression Former Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) president Joseph Kabila went on trial in absentia on Friday on charges including treason over alleged support for Rwanda-backed militants, an AFP reporter at the court said. Kabila, who has lived outside the DR Congo for two years, stands accused at a military court of plotting to overthrow the government of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi — a charge that could yield a death sentence. He also faces charges including homicide, torture and rape linked to the anti-government force M23, the charge sheet said. Other charges include “taking part in an insurrection movement,” “crime against the
POINTING FINGERS: The two countries have accused each other of firing first, with Bangkok accusing Phnom Penh of targeting civilian infrastructure, including a hospital Thai acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai yesterday warned that cross-border clashes with Cambodia that have uprooted more than 130,000 people “could develop into war,” as the countries traded deadly strikes for a second day. A long-running border dispute erupted into intense fighting with jets, artillery, tanks and ground troops on Thursday, and the UN Security Council was set to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis yesterday. A steady thump of artillery strikes could be heard from the Cambodian side of the border, where the province of Oddar Meanchey reported that one civilian — a 70-year-old man — had been killed and
POLITICAL PATRIARCHS: Recent clashes between Thailand and Cambodia are driven by an escalating feud between rival political families, analysts say The dispute over Thailand and Cambodia’s contested border, which dates back more than a century to disagreements over colonial-era maps, has broken into conflict before. However, the most recent clashes, which erupted on Thursday, have been fueled by another factor: a bitter feud between two powerful political patriarchs. Cambodian Senate President and former prime minister Hun Sen, 72, and former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, 76, were once such close friends that they reportedly called one another brothers. Hun Sen has, over the years, supported Thaksin’s family during their long-running power struggle with Thailand’s military. Thaksin and his sister Yingluck stayed
RSS