Venezuela Agrees to Audit Vote Ahead of Maduro Inauguration

(Bloomberg) Venezuela’s President-elect Nicolas Maduro, who will be sworn in tomorrow, agreed to a full audit of the votes cast in the country’s closest election in 45 years as the opposition contests the results.

Maduro’s campaign chief, Jorge Rodriguez, made the announcement yesterday after opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski called off a march to protest the results of the April 14 presidential election. Capriles, who requested a manual recount of the 15 million votes, acted after Maduro said he would come down with a “firm hand” on opposition supporters and political violence led to eight deaths.

“That there be new technical audits, we agree 100 percent with that,” Rodriguez said, without providing more information.

Tensions escalated in Venezuela after the snap election following the death of President Hugo Chavez March 5. Maduro today said on state television he will join regional leaders in Lima to participate in an emergency meeting called by the 12- member Union of South American Nations, or Unasur, to discuss the contested election.

Capriles is evaluating whether to attend the meeting as well, he wrote on his Twitter account. Foreign Affairs Minister Elias Jaua also wrote on Twitter that he is traveling to Lima.
First Step

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