Nicolas Maduro Claims Victory In Disputed Election; Opposition Rejects Result

Venezuela Election Results: Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro won re-election with 51.2 per cent of votes cast Sunday, the electoral council announced, after a campaign tainted by claims of opposition intimidation and fears of fraud.

Elvis Amoroso, president of the National Electoral Council, told reporters that 44.2 per cent of votes had gone to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia who had been leading in polls.

Maduro, 61, won a third six-year term at the helm of the once wealthy petro-state where GDP dropped by 80 per cent in a decade, pushing more than seven million of its 30 million citizens to emigrate.