maduro

Cubans face repression and crackdowns on dissent under a communist regime, and Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, has driven his once-prosperous nation into a protracted economic and political crisis.

The CNE came in for widespread international criticism in last year when it declared Mr Maduro the winner of the presidential election without ever providing the detailed voting tallies to back up their claim.

Among them were former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, Zulia state governor Manuel Rosales and Juan Requesens, who was jailed by the Maduro government for allegedly taking part in a 2018 drone attack on the president.

According to the preliminary results of the legislative election, the coalition backing President Maduro won an absolute majority of the 285 seats.

Maduro has hailed the result as a "victory of peace and stability" and celebrated the fact that his party had regained control of the states of Zulia and, in particular, Barinas, the home state of his predecessor in office and political mentor, Hugo Chávez.