Reuters, Caracas :
Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolas Maduro faced fresh international censure on Monday after re-election in a vote foes denounced as a farce cementing autocracy in the crisis-stricken OPEC nation.
The 55-year-old successor to former president Hugo Chavez hailed his win as a victory against “imperialism,” but his main rival refused to recognize the result alleging irregularities.
Thousands of Maduro supporters, many wearing red berets, hugged and danced outside the Miraflores presidential palace as the results came in, under confetti in the yellow, blue and red colors of the Venezuelan national flag.
“The revolution is here to stay!” a jubilant Maduro told the crowd, promising to prioritize economic recovery after five years of recession in the nation of 30 million people.
“Let’s go, Nico!” his supporters chanted until after midnight during party scenes in downtown Caracas.
“We mustn’t cave to any empire, or go running to the International Monetary Fund as Argentina did. The opposition must leave us alone to govern,” said government supporter Ingrid Sequera, 51, wearing a T-shirt with a logo of Chavez’s eyes.
Declaring Sunday’s vote a “sham,” the United States is now threatening sanctions on Venezuela’s all-important oil sector, which is already reeling from falling output, a brain-drain and creaking infrastructure.
Venezuela’s socialist leader Nicolas Maduro faced fresh international censure on Monday after re-election in a vote foes denounced as a farce cementing autocracy in the crisis-stricken OPEC nation.
The 55-year-old successor to former president Hugo Chavez hailed his win as a victory against “imperialism,” but his main rival refused to recognize the result alleging irregularities.
Thousands of Maduro supporters, many wearing red berets, hugged and danced outside the Miraflores presidential palace as the results came in, under confetti in the yellow, blue and red colors of the Venezuelan national flag.
“The revolution is here to stay!” a jubilant Maduro told the crowd, promising to prioritize economic recovery after five years of recession in the nation of 30 million people.
“Let’s go, Nico!” his supporters chanted until after midnight during party scenes in downtown Caracas.
“We mustn’t cave to any empire, or go running to the International Monetary Fund as Argentina did. The opposition must leave us alone to govern,” said government supporter Ingrid Sequera, 51, wearing a T-shirt with a logo of Chavez’s eyes.
Declaring Sunday’s vote a “sham,” the United States is now threatening sanctions on Venezuela’s all-important oil sector, which is already reeling from falling output, a brain-drain and creaking infrastructure.
