Venezuela's top court certifies Maduro's re-election in July vote
Venezuela's Supreme Justice Tribunal has ratified President Nicolas Maduro's victory in the July 28 presidential election.
In a ruling on Thursday, the court president Caryslia Rodriguez said the tribunal has reviewed material from the electoral authority and agrees that Maduro won the election.
"The electoral material assessed is certified unobjectionably and the results of the presidential election of July 28 released by the national electoral council, where Nicolas Maduro was elected president of the republic, are validated," said Rodriguez.
The Thursday ruling came in response to a request by the 61-year-old Maduro to review vote totals from the July 28 vote after the opposition claimed that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had obtained 66% of the votes and was the winner.
The court said voting tallies published online showing Maduro had lost were forged.
Violent protests erupted in Venezuela after the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE) said Maduro had won 52 percent of votes cast on July 28, securing a third six-year term in office.
Maduro has urged the country’s authorities to use an "iron fist" to end crimes and violence that erupted after his reelection in July.
Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old retired diplomat, had replaced opposition leader Maria Corina Machado after she was barred by a court from running for president over fraud.
Maduro said the two were encouraging a "coup d'etat" against him and fomenting a "civil war situation", which he said, has been neutralized.
Urrutia’s claim to victory has been recognized by the US and several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Uruguay and Peru.
Earlier this month, Maduro accused the US and right-wing American tech entrepreneur Elon Musk of attempting to engineer coups in his country.
Maduro, who became president following the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez in 2013, was re-elected in 2018 despite US-orchestrated opposition.
Venezuela has also been hit by US sanctions for years, and grappling with economic challenges, including hyperinflation.
Since November 2019, the US-led sanctions have pushed unbridled inflation in Venezuela to above 4,000 percent.
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