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Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores and Vice-President Tareck El Aissami, during a tour of a baseball stadium being built on the outskirts of Caracas. Photo: AP

Venezuela accuses US of sabotaging presidential election with new sanctions

Most opposition parties have boycotted the vote, a sign President Nicolas Maduro says, that they know they cannot win

Venezuela

Venezuela has accused the United States of using new sanctions against its government’s top officials to sabotage a controversial presidential election on Sunday, which the country’s opposition claims has been rigged.

Washington increased pressure on President Nicolas Maduro’s government on Friday, accusing him of profiting from illegal narcotics shipments and also imposing sanctions against the second-most powerful man in the country, ruling Socialist Party vice-president Diosdado Cabello.

The US has already imposed sanctions against Maduro for alleged human rights abuses and blamed him for Venezuela’s current economic and political crises. But Friday marked the first time that Washington publicly linked Maduro to the drug trade.

A billboard with Maduro and late president Hugo Chavez in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Photo: AFP

In a statement, Maduro’s government called the sanctions part of “a systematic campaign of aggression” by President Donald Trump’s administration and said they had no legal base.

“It’s not surprising that on the eve of a new vote, when the Venezuelan people will come out to defend their democracy against the imperialist aggressions that try and derail it, once again the US regime tries to sabotage the elections,” it said.

A man walks past a graffiti in support of Maduro. Photo: AFP

The US Treasury on Friday imposed sanctions against Cabello, his wife Marleny Josefina Contreras, who heads the country’s tourism institute, and his brother, Jose David.

Maduro is expected on Sunday to fend off a challenge from opposition candidate Henri Falcon, who is breaking the mainstream opposition coalition’s boycott of the vote which it says is rigged to assure Maduro wins a second term.

A worker passes electoral propaganda for Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Henri Falcon, in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Photo: AFP

The hardline opposition party Popular Will on Saturday reiterated its call for Venezuelans to boycott the election and described it as an “electoral sham that seeks to validate the dictatorship in Venezuela and the world”.

Maduro insists the election will be free and fair, and accuses the opposition of refusing to participate because it knows it cannot win.

However, his government was forced to turn to observers from allied countries to monitor Sunday’s vote. It had invited the United Nations and other international bodies to send observers, but the UN claims the conditions do not exist to guarantee a democratic process.

The US, Canada, the European Union and several countries in Latin America said they will not recognise the results of the polls, claiming they are not transparent or fair. 

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Venezuela accuses US of election sabotage
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