The Supreme Court of Venezuela has confirmed the victory of President Nicolás Maduro in the July 28 presidential election, strengthening institutional support for the ruling party amid doubts from the international community about the fairness of the vote, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
Human rights organizations and labor unions say that after the election and the anti-government protests that followed, Maduro began a campaign of repression against dissent in Venezuela.
Measures include arrests of opposition figures and protesters, investigations into opposition leaders for allegedly inciting the army to commit crimes, pushing through a law restricting non-governmental organizations and forcing civil servants to leave work for alleged opposition support.< /p>
The Supreme Court has reviewed the materials provided by the election authorities and is of the opinion that Maduro won the election, announced the president of the court, Carislia Rodríguez. She also said that the decision cannot be appealed.
Even on the night of the election, the electoral body announced that Maduro had won just over half of the votes. The full results have not yet been published, Reuters clarifies.
The opposition has published online 83% of the machine voting results, which it says give its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez solid support of 67%.