Venezuela: more than 8 million grant government more power
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan electoral authorities said more than 8 million people voted Sunday to create a constitutional assembly endowing President Nicolas Maduro’s ruling socialist party with virtually unlimited powers — a report more than double the estimates of independent experts and opposition leaders who met the announcement with fury and derision.
National Electoral Council President Tibisay Lucena announced just before midnight that turnout was 41.53 per cent, or 8,089,320 people. Members of the opposition said they believed between 2 million and 3 million people voted and one well-respected independent analysis put the number at 3.6 million.
The electoral council’s vote counts in the past have traditionally been seen as reliable and generally accurate, but Sunday’s widely mocked announcement appeared certain to escalate the polarization and political conflict paralyzing the country.
“The people have delivered the constitutional assembly,” Maduro said on national television. “More than 8 million in the middle of threats … it’s when imperialism challenges us that we prove ourselves worthy of the blood of the liberators that runs through the veins of men, women, children and young people.”