US suggests Venezuela's president is clinging on illegitimately after a disputed vote

• Nicolás Maduro was declared the victory in Venezuela's election, despite exit polls suggesting he didn't win.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other leaders have suggested the vote is not legitimate.
• Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves and a historically rocky relationship with the US.

Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in Venezuela's president election — prompting criticism from the US and its allies over the legitimacy of the vote.

The 61-year-old leader has led Venezuela since 2013. His victory in 2018 was also described as illegitimate, and Maudro is widely described as a "dictator."

A poll from Edison Research — which also polls the US elections — predicted that Maduro's rival Edmundo González Urrutia would win, with 65% of the vote to Maduro's 31%.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a statement shortly after the announcement, voicing "serious concerns" that the result "does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people."

In a joint press conference with opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado announced Gonzalez as the "new president-elect".

"We won and the whole world knows it," said Machado, who was barred from running for president herself.

The election results were delayed by several hours before the National Electoral Council said Maduro had won the vote, without releasing any totals.

Blinken's sentiments were echoed by several world leaders and other influential figures, with Elon Musk retweeting the exit poll figures with the caption "What a travesty".

Representatives from Chile, Guatemala, Uruguay, Peru, and Costa Rica called for "full transparency" in the electoral process, and demanded verifiable figures of the vote counts.

Venezuela's allies offered some support. President Vladimir Putin of Russie and the leader of Cuba, Miguel Diaz-Canel, welcomed the result. China also accepted the result and congratulated Maduro.

Venezuela has long had a rocky relationship with the US with Maduro breaking ties in 2019 after then-President Donald Trump recognized his rival as the interim President after the disputed 2018 election.

The country has a role in global power dynamics due to its vast crude oil reserves, proven to be the largest in the world at around 303 billion barrels.

The US imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil in 2019, which the country was able to circumvent with support from Russia and China.

The two countries also blocked a 2019 UN resolution calling for fresh elections in Venezuela.