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Observers reported that the surveys saw better conditions than in previous years, but raised concerns about some practices.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has dismissed members of a European Union election observation mission sent to observe last week’s election as “spies”. regional surveys.
Maduro’s disapproval came on Sunday after observers said the polls, in which opposition candidates took part for the first time in four years, they were generally performed better than in previous years.
However, they have expressed concern over administrative bans on candidates for administrative reasons, delays in opening polling stations and the “widespread use of state resources in the campaign”.
Maduro, who largely dominated the ruling Socialist Party in his government and mayoral election, said EU observers wanted to “stain the election process and they couldn’t.”
“A delegation of spies – not observers – roamed the country freely, spying on the country’s social, economic and political life,” Maduro said on state television, adding that the election was “perfect, beautiful.”
The observer mission did not immediately respond to the claims.
EU observers were deployed to the country for the first time in 15 years various concessions To encourage the participation of opposition candidates from the Maduro government, which has boycotted all elections in the country since 2018 amid allegations of fraud and intimidation.
The concessions came as a broader push for Maduro, who was elected first president in 2013, to support the Western powers, with the aim of easing sanctions as the country’s economy is already in turmoil.
The U.S. is among dozens of countries that have not recognized Maduro’s presidency since the controversial 2018 national election, as opposition leader Juan Guaido said he won.
The 1,000-member EU group will present a full report on the elections within two months.
Opposition candidates had little success in the last election, with only three of the 23 governors and 117 incumbent mayors getting the governing party to 210 mayoral victories.
Several mayoral contests were yet to be called, and not even an office of the governor — in the state of Barinas, which has a strong tendency to mature — has been called.
Despite the victories, the votes of the Socialists were reduced to less than four million, according to data from the country’s electoral authority, below the 5.9 million obtained in the 2017 regional elections.
On Sunday, Maduro also said he would hold meetings with opposition governors “in the coming hours,” but did not provide details.
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