Opposition flies into rage as Maduro wins Venezuelan election

Incumbent President Nicolas Maduro running for his third term has won the Venezuelan elections against Edmundo Gonzalez, 74, nominated by the coalition of right-wing parties. With 80% of votes counted, Maduro is leading the way, having secured 51.2 percent of Venezuelan votes, while Gonzalez enjoys 44.2 percent. Further counting of ballots is not going to make any change.

The announcement of election results was accompanied by a quite expected occurrence. Maduro's victory was welcomed by Cuba, Nicaragua and Bolivia — the countries loathing to recognize US hegemony in Latin America. The opposite camp includes the Washington-supervised Venezuelan opposition, the United States itself, its allies in Europe and Latin America. The list of countries that have "condemned" Maduro’s proclamation as the winner includes Argentina, Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay.

Argentine President Javier Milei, who has been playing the role of a freak and American bandog in the region since his very inauguration, demands that the Venezuelan military come out against President Maduro altogether. "The data shows a crushing opposition victory… Argentina won't recognize another fraud and hopes the armed forces will defend democracy and the popular will," Milei wrote on X.

Both the authorities and pro-American opposition, which used opinion polls as leverage on the people, have been prepared for the currently developing Venezuelan scenario. Pro-Western survey research companies have been flooding the country with opinion poll data that predicted Gonzalez’s unequivocal victory. This has been a prelude to the already launched campaign aimed to discredit the elections and the government itself. The tactics is clear: Gonzalez should have won "by all accounts", and if not, the entire voting would be called a fraud.

An opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, said Team Gonzalez did not recognize his defeat. "We want to say to all of Venezuela and the world that Venezuela has a new president-elect and it is (candidate) Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia," she said at a press conference after voting results were released. Machado urged counting center observers to keep their places.

The United States may clearly once again have a dash at orchestrating a "color revolution" in Venezuela, like six years ago. The opposition will seek triggering street riots meant to cause destabilization nationwide.

In Venezuela, the Americans have been true to themselves placing their stake on the local military and pushing them to a coup. There have been numerous attempts by Washington to bribe certain senior Venezuelan army officials who would have to "lead the nation" in that case. But all those underhand dealings have been a failure. Until now, the Venezuelan army has not only demonstrated loyalty to the legitimately elected government, but actively engaged in suppressing rebellions and invasion attempts from the outside, with the latter masterminded by the United States to inspire a "popular uprising."

The situation may well feature a time-proven practice like the one America used six years ago. Back then, the United States appointed parliament speaker Juan Guaido as Venezuela’s "interim president" instead of Nicolas Maduro. At the same time, Washington forced 50 more countries to do the same.

However, the idea of a "temporary president" was a train wreck, which even Donald Trump admitted while still in office as US national leader. Under Trump, Washington also abandoned the idea of an armed invasion of Venezuela. Even now, the Biden administration is not likely to dare undertake a direct armed invasion to oust Maduro.

Under Trump, the US military calculated its likely unacceptable losses in a military operation of the kind, since it was no assured success to Washington. In the current environment, the odds are similar. Moreover, the United States is not going to withstand a third war — in Venezuela — amid those raging in Ukraine and in the Middle East. The coffin flow with American soldiers from Venezuela would cut short all the Democratic chances in the November election.

But one way or another, the near future will see a new spiral of social tension in Venezuela. Mass street riots are also likely, fueled and sponsored by the Americans, since this is their favorite tactics of warming up things to pave the way for a power shift in a country.