CUBA CONGRATULATES VENEZUELA ON POLL BEFORE ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULT

Venezuela’s ruling party has won 20 out of 23 state governorships in Sunday’s regional elections, the first in four years in which the main opposition parties took part. Opposition candidates only won three governor’s posts.

In a move which reflected the predictable outcome, the Cuban president congratulated his Venezuelan counterpart before the electoral authorities had announced the results. Report however states that the turnout for the election was low at 41.8%.

The election is the first in nearly four years which was not boycotted by Venezuela’s main opposition parties. In previous elections, these parties had told their voters to refrain from casting their ballots arguing that it was not a fair contest.