Venezuela election: Maduro, opposition in standoff as both claim victory

Venezuela’s opposition and President Nicolas Maduro’s government were locked in a high-stakes standoff after each side claimed victory in a presidential vote that millions in the long-suffering nation saw as their best shot to end 25 years of single-party rule.

Several foreign governments, including the U.S., held off recognizing the results of Sunday’s election, and officials delayed the release of detailed vote tallies after proclaiming Maduro the winner with 51% of the vote, to 44% for retired diplomat Edmundo González.

“Venezuelans and the entire world know what happened,” González said.

On the streets of Caracas, a mix of anger, tears and loud pot banging greeted the announcement of results by the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council.

“This isn’t possible,” said Ayari Padrón, wiping away tears. “This is a humiliation.”

The election will have ripple effects throughout the Americas, with government opponents and supporters alike signaling their interest in joining the exodus of 7.7 million Venezuelans who have already left their crisis-plagued home for opportunities abroad should Maduro win another six-year term.

Venezuela sits atop the world’s largest proven oil reserves, and once boasted Latin America’s most advanced economy. But it entered into a free fall after Maduro took the helm. Plummeting oil prices, widespread shortages of basic goods and hyperinflation that soared past 130,000% led first to social unrest and then mass emigration.

Economic sanctions from the U.S. seeking to force Maduro from power after his 2018 reelection — which the U.S. and dozens of other countries condemned as illegitimate — only deepened the crisis.

Voters lined up before dawn to cast ballots Sunday, boosting the opposition’s hopes it