Re-elected Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro feels at ease — he's been there, done that. The West cooperates with unrecognized presidents and writes off its puppets.
Venezuela held presidential elections on Sunday — Nicolas Maduro was re-elected for his third six-year term having scored 51.2 percent of the vote. Opposition candidate Edmundo González gained 44 percent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Maduro on his re-election as President of Venezuela.
"Remember that you are always a welcome guest on Russian soil," Putin said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry also congratulated Maduro on his victory. Beijing said it would "further strengthen" relations with Venezuela.
"China highly values the development of bilateral relations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
Iran, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua also recognized Maduro as president. These countries have experienced color revolutions during elections.
The Brazilian government, according to local media, will wait for the publication of the protocols of the presidential election in Venezuela to recognize the results of the vote in Caracas.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado declared the victory of her candidate Gonzalez. She stated, without providing evidence, that her candidate "received 70 percent of the vote, and Nicolás Maduro — 30 percent. Corina called on her inspectors to remain at the polling stations until the election protocols could be made available.
The United States and its allies — Chile, Argentina, Panama — called on Maduro to publish the true results of the presidential election in Venezuela.
"Maduro needs to understand that it is difficult to ever believe the results," Chile said.
The US authorities have "serious concerns" that the results of the presidential election announced by the Venezuelan authorities "do not reflect the will of the people," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said. However, there is no recognition of Maduro's illegitimacy yet — and there will not be any.
In the last elections six years ago, the US did not recognize Maduro as president due to alleged falsifications. Opposition leader Juan Guaido was declared president.
Washington still does not recognize Alexander Lukashenko as President of Belarus. Yet, Guaido has long been written off and left for a well-deserved vacation in the USA, whereas Svetlana Tikhanovskaya travels from one conference to another and leads the imaginary United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus in her head. As for Maduro, the Americans began to cooperate with him, lift sanctions from Venezuela and buy Venezuelan oil to screen off a stronger enemy — Russia.
If the US imposes sanctions against Venezuela again, the cost of gasoline in the USA will skyrocket, and this is not a piece of the pie that the Democrats world want to get during the electoral period.
The European Union also resumed oil purchases from Venezuela since 2023 against the backdrop of the embargo on the purchase of Russian oil.
Even if sanctions are going to follow, China and the Russian Federation will ensure sales of Venezuelan oil in Asia — been there, done that.
Western media marvel at all the tribulations that the people of Venezuela have to go through amid Maduro's terrible economic policy. Maduro's economic policy can be defined with one simple word — socialism: the poor get pulled into the middle class by redistributing national income.
Venezuela's main wealth is oil, and oil sales are going well now. The state-run oil company PDVSA contributed $6.24 billion to the country's treasury last year. This amount was used to pay public sector salaries, for treatment, education and housing purposes.
Venezuela's economy grew by more than five percent in 2023, and is expected to reach eight percent this year. According to the Central Bank, inflation reached just under 190 percent last year, which is lower than the 234 percent in the previous year.
"In 2024, we will continue the policy to support national production, recover national income, recover workers' income," Maduro told parliamentarians. Inflation this year will be a double-digit number, he said.