Nicolas Maduro defies censure with ‘do I care’ attitude ahead of Venezuela election
Caracas — President Nicolas Maduro scoffed at international criticism of Venezuela’s May 20 vote in which he is seeking re-election and offered a prize for those who vote with a state-issued card. Venezuela’s mainstream opposition is boycotting the election on the grounds that it is rigged in favour of the 55-year-old socialist incumbent. The US, EU and various Latin American neighbours have also slammed it as unfair. "So they’re not going to recognise Maduro around the world. What the hell do I care?" Maduro said at an election rally in La Guaira, on the coast outside Caracas, late on Wednesday. "What the hell do I care what Europe and Washington say?" Maduro, who is casting his re-election campaign as a battle against imperialist powers bent on seizing Venezuela’s oil wealth, has only one serious rival: Henri Falcon, a former state governor. Falcon has broken with the opposition coalition’s boycott of the vote, believing anger at an economic crisis will win him votes. Venezuela is...
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