Enlarge image
Venezuela's head of state Maduro: "Nice triumph, nice victory, nice harvest, product of labor"
Photo: YURI CORTEZ / AFP
In Venezuela, millions of voters were called upon to decide on future regional governments.
According to official information, the big winner of the regional elections is the party of the left-wing head of state Nicolás Maduro.
Maduro's allies won in 20 of the 23 states, said the South American country's election commission.
The Maduro camp also won the mayoral election in the capital Caracas.
"Nice triumph, nice victory, nice harvest, product of labor," said Maduro on television, speaking of "overwhelming results".
The divided opposition won the gubernatorial elections in three states - including Zulia, the country's most populous state.
The commission gave the voter turnout at 41.8 percent.
It was the first time since 2017 that the Venezuelan opposition took part in elections again.
The main opposition parties boycotted the 2018 presidential election and the 2020 parliamentary election because they accused the government of massive electoral fraud.
Opposition politicians see evidence of electoral fraud
For the current polls, the EU sent an election observer mission to Venezuela for the first time in 15 years.
The head of mission, Isabel Santos, said the elections were "quiet".
She wants to present her report on Tuesday.
Opposition politicians, however, again spoke of indications of electoral fraud.
Opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who is recognized by the US, Germany and more than 50 other countries as Venezuela's interim president, did not vote in the regional elections.
He justified this with the fact that Maduro would remain "illegally" in power regardless of the outcome.
However, a few days ago Guaidó pleaded for a resumption of talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition in Mexico.
Maduro said on Sunday, however, that the "prerequisites" were missing for a continuation of the negotiations.
The Venezuelan government suspended the dialogue with the opposition in mid-October in protest against the extradition of a businessman close to Maduro to the USA.
The Colombian entrepreneur Alex Saab faces up to 20 years imprisonment for money laundering allegations in the USA.
The Venezuelan leadership had been negotiating with the opposition since September to resolve the long-lasting power struggle.
The political conflict is taking place against the background of a massive economic crisis in which Venezuela has been stuck for years, despite its oil wealth.
The gross domestic product has fallen by 80 percent since 2014, and studies show that three quarters of the population now live in extreme poverty.
Around five million Venezuelans left their country in the wake of the crisis.
Maduro, who has been in office since 2013, has the backing of the army as well as Cuba, China and Russia.
asc / AFP