Opposition leaders in Venezuela have alleged fraud after electoral authorities claimed that Nicolás Maduro’s socialist party won 17 of 24 governorships in Sunday’s regional elections. On Sunday evening, National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena announced that the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) had won 17 out of 24 governorships and 54 percent of the votes. Turnout was reportedly at 61%.
President Nicolas Maduro’s government won a landslide victory in closely watched regional elections in Venezuela, according to official results that the opposition said were “suspicious” and rejected results. Maduro’s party on Sunday apparently won governorships of 17 of the 23 states with the opposition Democratic Union Roundtable (MUD) coalition taking only five, according to the results announced by the National Elections Council.
Venezuela’s triple-digit annual inflation rate is set to jump to more than 2,300% in 2018, the highest estimate for any country tracked by the International Monetary Fund.
British Minister Sir Alan Duncan expressed his concern at the deteriorating situation in Venezuela during a meeting in London on Wednesday with Venezuelan foreign minister Jorge Arreaza in London. Sir Duncan said that together with Europeans partners, they are closely watching the management of the 15 October Venezuelan State Governors’ elections closely.
Aerolineas Argentinas has become the latest carrier to suspend flights to Caracas. The company said it had concerns over security in Venezuela because of increasing criminal violence and political uncertainty. It joins dozens of airlines who have taken similar action.
Canada will impose targeted sanctions against 40 Venezuelan senior officials, including President Nicolás Maduro, to punish them for “anti-democratic behavior,” the foreign ministry announced. Canada’s move, which followed a similar decision by the United States, came after months of protests against Maduro’s government in which at least 130 people have been killed.
Chile’s central bank said it had revoked a reciprocal credit line with its Venezuelan counterpart, citing what it called Venezuela’s failure to pay back its debts. In a statement, Chile’s central bank said it had notified Venezuela’s central bank and that the line would be cancelled within 10 days.
Brazilian officials plan to visit Venezuela next week to prevent Caracas from defaulting on contracts worth as much as US$5 billion after falling in arrears on a payment due to infrastructure contractors this month, newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo reported on Thursday.
The President of Brazil, the first Head of State traditionally to address the annual United Nations General Assembly’s general debate, pledged on Tuesday that his country will sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – reiterating that the nuclear powers undertake additional disarmament.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the United States will be forced to “totally destroy” North Korea unless Pyongyang backs down from its nuclear challenge, mocking North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a “rocket man” on a suicide mission.