Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in presidential elections early this morning, confounding opposition claims of victory and exit polls indicating that he suffered a significant defeat.

Mr. Maduro, a politician trained and advised by Cuba’s communist government, claimed that he won 51 percent of the vote, giving him a third 6-year term. The government-controlled National Electoral Council gave the opposition candidate Edmundo González, 44 percent.

In a direct challenge, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said that Mr. Gonzalez secured 70 percent of the vote and that independent exit polls decisively showed his victory. American pollster Edison Research interviewed 6,846 voters across the country and projected Mr. González winning 65 percent of votes and the president 31 percent. A two-to-one victory for Mr. González was predicted by three pre-election polls conducted earlier this month.

“Venezuela has a new president-elect and it is Edmundo González,” Ms. Machado said early this morning in a joint statement with Mr. González.  “We won and the whole world knows it.” In an indication of confusion within the Maduro ranks, the president waited for six hours after polls closed to claim victory.

After a day marked by harassment of opposition voters, leading up to the killing of one man in western Venezuela, Mr. González appealed to supporters to avoid violence on Monday. Leaving tactics for this week unspoken, he said: “Our struggle continues and we will not rest until the will of the Venezuelan people is respected.” 

In advance of yesterday’s vote, Mr. Maduro had warned the nation that an opposition victory could mean “a bloodbath.” In a sign that Mr. Maduro lost much of the urban poor, pot-banging protests broke out early this morning in Caracas. To mollify the masses, the government set off fireworks over the capital. Lighted drones formed a brightly-colored image of Maduro in the sky above the presidential palace. 

Latin American leaders from left and right protested Mr. Maduro’s victory claim. From the left, Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, also said he found the result “hard to believe.” He said his government won’t recognize “any result that is not verifiable.”

Venezuela’s opposition said that their head representative was last night kicked out of key meetings of the National Election Council and that the opposition won access to only 40 percent of vote tallies. Costa Rica’s president, Rodrigo Chaves, a centrist, rejected Mr. Maduro’s victory claim. He promised: “We will work with the democratic countries across the continent and international organizations to achieve the respect the Venezuelan people deserve.” 

From the right, the Argentinian president, Javier Milei  proclaimed on X: “Dictator Maduro, get out!” Referring to Venezuela’s fifth election over 25 years where the Socialist party claimed victory, he wrote: “The Venezuelans chose to end the dictatorship of communist Nicolás Maduro.” He added: “The data indicate a crushing victory by the opposition, and the world awaits” that Mr. Maduro “recognizes defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence, and death.”

Mr. Maduro responded by telling a “victory” rally early this morning that the Argentine president is a “sociopath.” He entertained his supporters by making faces, mimicking Argentina’s president. Mr. Maduro told his cheering supporters that the result is “a triumph of peace and stability.” He praised Venezuela’s election system as transparent, and mocked the opposition for “crying fraud” at every election.

During a quarter-century in power, Venezuela has moved away from classic socialism, to the kind of political military dictatorship seen in Cuba and Russia. In advance of the voting,  Maduro said he would win “by hook or by crook.” Last night, before  the official results were announced, Venezuela’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, announced, in a reference to Washington’s opposition to the Maduro government: “The Venezuelan people have rejected the sanctions.” 

Early today, Cuba’s president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, praised the voting process. He posted on X: “Today the dignity and courage of the Venezuelan people triumphed over pressure and manipulation.” He offered his warm congratulations to his “brother” — a reference to Mr. Maduro — for the victory. He promised that Havana’s commitment “to stand by the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution.”

From 100 miles to the north, Senator Rubio panned the electoral council’s announcement of a Maduro victory. In a post on X, he said Mr. Maduro’s government had “just carried out the most predictable and ridiculous sham election in modern history.” Mr.  Rubio’s state of Florida has the largest Venezuelan community in America.

During the 11 years of Mr. Maduro’s rule, Venezuela’s oil production has fallen by 75 percent and about one-quarter of the nation’s population — about 8 million people — have emigrated. Of these, about 800,000 have come to America. Before Sunday’s voting, as many as 40 percent of poll respondents said they too would emigrate if Mr. Maduro stole yet another election.

The opposition campaigned on reuniting Venezuelan families. Of the 4.5 million voters overseas, only a smattering were allowed to vote yesterday. With six months to go to a January inauguration, Mr. Maduro promised to sign a decree today inviting the opposition to participate in yet another “great national dialogue.”

With Venezuela’s future in flux this week, the Biden Administration wants to avoid a wave of Venezuelan migrants attempting to cross America’s southern border just at the time of the American presidential election.

With the Biden Administration working on a response to fast-moving developments, Vice President Harris tweeted last night: “The United States stands with the people of Venezuela who expressed their voice in today’s historic presidential election. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected.” After the Maduro victory claim, Secretary Blinken demanded from Tokyo a full tally of the voting and said: “We have serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people.”

At Caracas, Ms. Machado appealed on X to the military, the historic arbiter in Venezuelan politics. “The people of Venezuela have spoken: they don’t want Maduro. It is time to put yourselves on the right side of history. You have a chance and it’s now.”