Venezuela’s election “result” made it a black Sunday for democracy around the world.

The opposition parties claimed they won the vote in every single state of the country, but President Nicolás Maduro said he won the count, 51 per cent versus 44 per cent for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez.

Exit polls conducted by U.S. firm Edison Research suggested Gonzalez won 64 per cent to Maduro’s 31 per cent. But the electoral council, led by Maduro acolyte Elvis Amoroso, awarded the election to the president, without publishing detailed results.