Venezuelan President Maduro, Wins Re-election

President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of Venezuela's presidential election Sunday, in a vote that has been criticized both inside and outside of the country.Maduro celebrated his re-election during a victory rally in central Caracas Sunday night, after the country's National Electoral Council president declared him the winner.
"I am a better prepared president and human being right now," he said to a cheering crowd outside Miraflores presidential palace. "You trusted in me and I will respond. Thank you for giving me 68% of those votes."
Maduro, who first took office in 2013 after his predecessor and mentor Hugo Chavez died, will govern Venezuela for another six-year term. The term officially begins in January 2019 and ends in 2025.
"This is my fourth victory in a row," Maduro said. "This is our [party's] 22nd victory in 19 years -- we have prevailed."
Amid widespread economic anxiety, Maduro also said the country will enter a "new phase" and fight against "the mafias" to revamp the economy.
The main opposition coalition boycotted the election, but Maduro was not without challengers.
Maduro's chief rival for the presidency was Henri Falcon, a former state governor and onetime loyalist of the ruling party who broke ranks in 2010. About 5.8 million votes went to Maduro and Falcon came in second with 1.8 million votes, according to National Electoral Council president Tibisay Lucena. These figures were based on 92.6% of the tallied votes.
Lucena said 46% of Venezuela's voting population participated in the election.
On Sunday, Falcon cited hundreds of complaints of election violations. Election officials said they would address the claims.
Many countries, including the United States, have called the election a "sham" and said they would not recognize the results of Sunday's vote.