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Caracas
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Tuesday his socialist party's landslide victory in disputed regional elections had delivered a"strong message" to the United States and its allies.
"Our people have given a strong message to imperialism, to (US President Donald) Trump, to its regional allies and to the local right," an ebullient Maduro told a news conference after the opposition rejected the results which the US and EU said were deeply flawed. Washington on Monday condemned"the lack of free and fair elections" while the European Union called the results of Sunday's vote"surprising" and said it was necessary"to find out what really happened." Trump last month said he had not ruled out possible military action in response to Venezuela's growing political and social turmoil. In a lengthy press conference which amounted to a victory lap for Maduro, he accused the"imperial forces of the north" of launching"a psychological, political and economic war" against his government.
"It is not going to be an economic war or an induced inflation that makes this people give up," said Maduro, who according to opinion polls has an 80 percent dissatisfaction rating among Venezuelans who are struggling with serious food and medicine shortages and record inflation.
The president of neighbouring Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, said Tuesday that Venezuela needed to hold general elections under an"independent" electoral authority.
The results amounted to a crushing blow for the opposition Democratic Union Roundtable coalition, which had characterised the elections as a referendum on Maduro after months of street protests earlier this year failed to unseat him.
