(Adnkronos) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has harshly contested the outcome of the presidential elections in Ecuador, calling the re-election of incumbent Head of State Daniel Noboa, who defeated Correísta candidate Luisa González by over eleven percentage points, a “horrendous fraud.” The challenger has called for an investigation into the results.
During a meeting with the Gran Polo Patriótico Simón Bolívar political coalition, ahead of the Venezuelan local elections on May 25, Maduro accused Western powers of wanting to impose “a colonialist project” in Ecuador to exercise “political, military and economic” control over the Andean country. “They threaten with bombings and invasions as never seen before,” he said, quoted by broadcaster Vtv.
The position of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was decidedly different, as he recognized Noboa’s victory. “I greet the Ecuadorian people and the re-elected president. Brazil will continue to collaborate with Ecuador for multilateralism, South American integration and the sustainable development of the Amazon,” Lula wrote on X.
