Many voters decided against taking part in an election the opposition said would turn the country into a full-fledged dictatorship. Photograph: Leo Ramirez/AFP/Getty ImagesMaduro hailed what he claimed as a high turnout in an address on national television late on Sunday. The same exit poll also noted that Venezuela has an estimated 2.6 million government employees, “suggesting that a large fraction of the votes could have not been voluntary”. The new assembly will be convened within 72 hours of the election and will function with virtually unlimited powers. Price controls brought widespread food and medicine shortages and spiralling inflation, as well as unbridled violence, driving millions of Venezuelans to leave the country.

Source: The Guardian July 31, 2017 11:39 UTC