Venezuela's state-controlled electoral body has declared authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro the winner of the presidential vote.
The opposition has condemned what it says are serious irregularities in the counting of votes, the Financial Times reported.
Opinion polls before the vote and quick counts on the day of the vote predicted a big victory for the opposition. But Elvis Amoroso, head of the National Electoral Council, said Maduro won 51.2% of the vote with 80% counted, while his main opposition challenger Edmundo Gonzalez won 44.2%.
Amoroso described the results as "devastating and irreversible" and quickly congratulated Maduro on his victory, blaming "acts of terrorism" of sabotage against the voting system that delayed the publication of the results by several hours. Maduro's supporters gathered outside the presidential palace to celebrate.
Delsa Solojano, the main opposition representative in the electoral body, said earlier that in "a significant number of polling centers they remove our witnesses [and] others, where they refuse to hand over the results".
Venezuelan law states that witnesses are allowed to remain in polling stations until they have checked the vote count and received a printed copy of the result. | BGNES
