Venezuela regime wins 17 governor races

Bloomberg

Venezuela’s autocratic regime claimed wins in 17 of the 23 states holding governor elections on Sunday, results that defied polls predicting widespread gains by the opposition.
The government kept polling stations open hours past the scheduled 6 p.m. closing. Election officials emerged about 10:15 p.m. to announce the results. Votes were still being counted in one state. “This only happens in Venezuela,” a
jubilant President Nicolas Maduro, flanked by his ministers, said on state television
late on Sunday.
“This is only done by Chavismo,” he said, referring to the socialist project started by former President Hugo Chavez. “Chavismo is alive, it’s in the streets and victorious.” Gerardo Blyde, mayor of a Caracas municipality and head of the opposition’s campaign, said in a webcast that the alliance refused to recognize the results.
As Maduro has consolidated power over the past year, he has convened a special legislative body that supersedes all institutions, imprisoned critics and been personally sanctioned by the US.
The opposition favors new elections, the release of political prisoners, and accepting humanitarian aid. Maduro’s supporters want a continuation of generous social programs widely seen as unsustainable, and a foreign policy hostile to the US and other nations it casts as imperialist.