All the polls had indicated that Venezuela's 28 July elections would lead to a decisive defeat of leader Nicolas Maduro, who has been in power for 11 years, and to an end to 25 years of the left-wing ideology "Chavismo" that began with Hugo Chávez.
But once more the regime showed it’s not willing to go, announcing shortly after midnight that the president was re-elected. The Catholic Church, which has to deal with an especially fierce persecution by the government, reacted with the same incredulity that the Venezuelan masses have shown to the results released by the electoral authority that flew in the face of those previous polls.
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