VENEZUELA SUCCESSFULLY HELD presidential elections on July 28. Incumbent President Nicolas Maduro, one of Latin America’s staunchest anti-imperialist leaders, won. He received 51.2% of the votes, against his opponent Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who got 44.2%.

The US and its Latin American allies attempted to disrupt the election by hacking the data transmission system which delayed the release of the results. Unsuccessful, it declared the election “fraudulent” and recognized Urrutia as the “winner” despite having no evidence.

Urrutia was a substitute to opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from running because of her support for the US in imposing economic sanctions that have crippled Venezuela, and for calling for foreign military intervention to oust Maduro.