VLADIMIR Putin has lauded his fellow tyrant pal Nicolás Maduro as the world holds its breath for Venezuela’s tinderbox election results.
The dictatorship-stricken country is on the brink of civil war after both Maduro and the opposition declared victory.
According to official figures, 61-year-old Maduro earned 51.2 percent of the vote, while 74-year-old opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez received 44.2%.
Dramatic videos showed distraught Venezuelans in tears after the result announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
However, the opposition in Venezuela has also declared victory, claiming that Gonzalez, their presidential candidate, received 70% of the vote in their own tally.
The opposition has accused Maduro of manipulating the vote and claims that he controls the electoral process through cronies.
They also claimed people were forced out of polling stations as riot cops made a fortified human barrier at the entrance.
The opposition have been retaliated against by Marxist Maduro, who claims that “fraud” was done by the “extreme right” opposition.
Putin has since congratulated Nicolás Maduro on his “re-election” as Venezuela’s president, the Kremlin said on its Telegram channel on Monday.
The Russian despot was quoted as saying: “Russian-Venezuelan relations are of a strategic partnership.
“I am confident that your activities at the head of state will continue to contribute to their progressive development in all directions.
Venezuela’s election could prove a pivotal moment in the country’s history.
For the last 25 years, the South American country has been ruled by a socialist party that has kept a tight grip on the country.
But the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its leader Nicolas Maduro has overseen a massive decline in living standards in the country during his 11-year rule.
Prices have soared in a bout of hyperinflation – with the increase hitting 360 per cent in 2023.
Poverty in the country had skyrocketed and 8million people have fled to neighbouring states over the past few years.
Maduro is an ally of Vladimir Putin’s and has received help from the dictator to keep his regime afloat.
Venezuela also has the largest oil reserves in the world, even larger than Saudi Arabia, with offshore deposits thought to hold over 300million barrels.
“This fully meets the interests of our friendly peoples and is in line with building a more just and democratic world order.
“I would like to confirm our readiness to continue our constructive joint work on topical issues on the bilateral and international agenda.”
Putin added: “Remember that you will always be a welcome guest on Russian soil.”
Venezuela’s tinderbox election has also seen dictator Maduro threaten a “bloodbath” if he loses the standoff.
In his first address after being declared the victor of Venezuela’s presidential election by the CNE, Maduro decried a “massive hack” of the electoral body’s transmission system.
The dictator told journalists: “”Venezuela suffered an attack at night, a massive hack, we already know which country it came from – I’m not going to say, the footprint has already been left – on the transmission system of the National Electoral Council because the devils and the demonesses did not want the official bulletin to be given today.”
Maduro added that they know “where they did it” and that it is the Prosecutor’s Office’s responsibility to “enforce justice.”
Amid fears of a civil war, the UK Foreign Office amended its travel advice for Venezuela on Monday, recommending British citizens in the South American country to “stay home if possible” following the presidential election.
The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said in its latest travel advice: “The UK does not accept the legitimacy of the current administration established by Nicolás Maduro.
“The situation in Venezuela is currently tense and you should stay at home if possible. There is currently a heightened risk of election-related demonstrations and protests.
“Avoid political gatherings, demonstrations and crowds, which may turn violent and be forcibly dispersed.
“Do not cross security lines or barricades. Please closely monitor developments and stay up to date with these travel advice.”
Nicholas Maduro has been in power in Venezuela for 11 years.
His authoritarian grip on the country and disrespect for human rights has seen him undermine free and fair elections in a number of ways.
One way he does so is by jailing his political opponents or banning them from running.
Most notably at this election was María Corina Machado.
Mochado, a former conservative lawmaker, has captured the attention of broad swathes of the public and draws massive crowds wherever she goes.
She has promised to “bury socialism forever” and create a nation where “the criminals and the corrupt go to prison.”
Machado has promised sweeping reforms and she overwhelmingly won a primary of opposition parties in October last year.
But, in January a court ruled that Machado cannot participate in any elections for 15 years due to supposed financial irregularities while she was a legislator.
Maduro has even recently stripped Machado of her bodyguard and arrested her security adviser, the latest in a number of arrests in her team.
Who Maduro has let run is Edmundo González Urrutia, a little known diplomat who represented the country in Argentina and Algeria.
If Urrutia was to win, Machado may well be the power behind the throne.
