Venezuela president Maduro rejects vote rigging claims

Venezuela's newly reelected president Nicolas Maduro has rejected claims that his government had inflated turnout figures in the country’s elections last Sunday.

The South American nation has become engulfed in further political instability as mass protests continue following Sunday’s vote.

British firm Smartmatic, the firm hired by authorities in the country to carry out the vote, said on Wednesday that the turnout had been inflated by as much as one million votes.

Over the weekend a group of 43 international election observers, part of the Council of Electoral Specialists of Latin America, composed of former presidents and magistrates from electoral organisations throughout Latin America, issued a statement calling on governments and people of the world to respect the election result as the “sovereign decision and right of self-determination of the Venezuelan people.”

“We recognise this democratic act… their undoubtable and inalienable exercise of national sovereignty,” they said.

Maduro stood by the count of more than eight million, and even said the number would have been higher if protesters had not prevented millions of citizens from voting.

The former bus driver and trade union leader accused Smartmatic of being influenced by the US in a speech on Wednesday in front of the newly-elected constituent assembly in Caracas. He said its president had been "pressured to the neck by the gringos and the Brits".

Opponents of Maduro’s anti-imperialist government have taken to the streets en masse, with reports of escalating violence in the region, which each side blames on the other.

Estimates said the death toll topped 120 people died after riots on Sunday, that some reports claimed was organised by the opposition to scare voters away from the polls, while other blamed the government.

FALLING OIL PRICES

Falling world oil prices have damaged the Venezuelan economy in recent years, with its petroleum reserves traditionally being the main driver behind its previous economic stability.

In just four years, the country’s GDP has shrunk by 35% as oil dropped from over $100 per barrel to below $30 at the beginning of 2016.

Two of Maduro’s fiercest political opponents, Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma, were reportedly taken from their homes by security forces earlier this week as the President cracks down further on opposition.

Senior UK politicians joined in the condemnation of Maduro following this week’s events, including some Labour MPs who called on leader Jeremy Corbyn to denounce his actions.

Corbyn has previously backed Maduro, as well as his predecessor Hugo Chavez, but shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Labour did not support his regime.

"Our official statement on Monday called on the Venezuelan government to respect human rights and the rule of law, said the election must not be treated as a mandate for further repression and violence, and challenged President Maduro personally to answer the legitimate concerns of the international community about his increasingly authoritarian rule," Thornberry said.

The Foreign Office has withdrawn its embassy staff from the country, and advised any Britons in the country to leave.

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone, who during his time in office struck cut-price oil deals with Venezuela to supply Transport for London, said voiced the view that oil owning families in the country were "using their power and control over imports and exports to make it difficult and to undermine Maduro".

Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, a senior lecturer in law at Birkbeck, University of London, said the opposition was dominated by far-rightwing sectors and noted in The Guardian that opposition leader López had used his Twitter account to ask Venezuelans to take to the streets and ratify the results "by force” and had been filmed urging the army to rise up against the government.