Caracas, 30 Jul (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's National Electoral Commission announced in the early morning of 29 July that President Maduro, candidate of the Grand Patriotic Alliance and current president, was re-elected president of Venezuela. According to the Venezuela constitution, he will be sworn in on January 10, 2025, to begin his new term. Analysts believe that Maduro's victory will promote the country's economic transformation, but it will mainly face two challenges: coping with the pressure of external sanctions and boosting the economy and people's livelihood.
Re-elected president
Venezuela held a presidential election on the 28th, with a total of 10 candidates participating. The National Electoral Commission's count of 80 percent of the votes showed that Maduro received 51.2 percent of the vote, Edmundo · González, the candidates of the opposition coalition Democratic Solidarity Alliance, 44.2 percent of the vote, and the other eight candidates received a total of 4.6 percent. Venezuela's constitution stipulates that the candidate who receives the most votes in an election will be elected president.
In his victory speech, Maduro said that he would soon sign a decree to start a dialogue process that would bring a new consensus among the country's political forces. However, the "Union of Democratic Solidarity" protested against the election results.
After the election results were announced, Cuban President Díaz-Canel congratulated Maduro on his re-election and promised that Cuba would fight alongside Venezuela; The Government of Nicaragua issued a proclamation "Congratulations to the Venezuela people on their great victory"; Honduras President Fidel Castro said Maduro and the Venezuela people had achieved an "indisputable victory"; Bolivia President Arce said that he would continue to strengthen friendship, cooperation and solidarity with Venezuela.
At the same time, the foreign ministers of nine Latin American countries, including Argentina, United States Panama and Uruguay, issued a joint communiqué calling for all candidates to be allowed to review the vote count by representatives of all candidates to ensure that the results of the general election respect the will of the people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela announced on the 29th that it would recall diplomats from seven Latin American countries including Argentina, Chile and Peru, and at the same time required the diplomats of these countries to withdraw from Venezuela.
External pressure should be exerted
Analysts pointed out that the presidential election in Venezuela comes at a time when United States continues to interfere in Venezuela's internal affairs and continuously increase economic sanctions against Venezuela, and Maduro is expected to face sanctions pressure from United States after winning the election.
United States Secretary of State Blinken said on the 29th that the United States expressed "serious concern" about the results of the Venezuelan presidential election, saying that it "did not reflect the will of voters." On the same day, an anonymous official of the United States State Department told the media that the United States will adjust its sanctions against Venezuela according to the development of the situation.
Venezuela China has suspended diplomatic relations with United States since January 2019, and United States has continued to expand economic sanctions against Venezuela, including banning the import of Venezuela crude oil and freezing the assets of Venezuelan oil companies in the United States. In October last year, United States eased sanctions on Venezuela oil and gas for six months, but reinstated them in April this year. Maduro said on May 1 that Venezuela lost more than $2 billion in revenue in the first four months of this year due to United States sanctions.
Wang Peng, secretary general of the Center for Central American and Caribbean Studies of the Institute of Latin American Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believes that United States' sanctions against Venezuela will be extended, but it is not expected to reach the previous state of "maximum pressure", because United States needs Venezuela's oil production to stabilize the current international oil price. He also said that although Maduro announced earlier this month that he would resume direct talks with the United States government, there were doubts about whether the talks would go smoothly.
Song Junying, director of the Institute of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, pointed out that after Maduro's election, Venezuela will maintain the policy of "seeking peace through struggle" with the United States, and while fighting against United States's unprovoked sanctions, it will not rule out the release of a signal of reconciliation with United States. In addition, Venezuela's future foreign policy will continue the "Global South" line, on the one hand, strengthen cooperation with developing countries on a global scale, and on the other hand, cooperate on an equal footing with countries that respect Venezuela's sovereignty in Latin America.
There is an opportunity in the economic crisis
Affected by United States sanctions and international oil price fluctuations, Venezuela has experienced hyperinflation since the end of 2017, and the inflation rate for the whole year of 2018 reached 130060%, and the currency has depreciated sharply. Hyperinflation was not brought under control until December 2021, and US dollar transactions are now widely used in Venezuela to stabilize prices.
Since 2024, Venezuela's economic situation has been relatively stable. Data released by Venezuela on June 7 showed that Venezuela's cumulative inflation rate was 7.8% from January to May this year, the lowest level in the same period in nearly 12 years.
Oil exports are Venezuela's main source of foreign exchange. Venezuela produced 922,000 barrels per day of crude oil in June, the highest level of the year, according to a report released this month by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Against the backdrop of a recovery in oil capacity, Maduro said in March that Venezuela's economy would grow by 8 percent this year.
Wang Peng believes that the main goal of the Maduro government in the economic field is to further restore oil production and exports, so as to achieve the goal of boosting the economy and improving people's lives.
In addition, the Venezuela government is taking steps to reduce its dependence on oil revenues and strive to achieve a "two-legged walk". Maduro said in January that his government would work to diversify its economy and overcome a single oil economy, with more chemicals, food, tobacco and metals being exported to achieve that goal.