CARACAS, July 29. /TASS/. Incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s win in Sunday’s election would further boost the strategic partnership between Russia and Venezuela, Russian Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic Sergey Melik-Bagdasarov said in an interview with TASS.
"The convincing win of Nicolas Maduro in the [presidential] election allows one to expect a continued strengthening of the Russian-Venezuelan strategic partnership across the board," the Russian diplomat said. According to him, Maduro’s re-election as president "will push forward the development of a broad political dialogue proclaimed by the Venezuelan leader during his election campaign, promote Venezuela on the international arena and foster the continued Bolivarian peace diplomacy," Melik-Bagdasarov emphasized.
The ambassador said that National Electoral Council President Elvis Amoroso had declared Maduro the winner of the presidential election to an audience of numerous international observers with 51.2% of votes compared with 44.2% for his rival, opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
At this late hour in Caracas, "there is a festive atmosphere on the streets, with thousands of people gathering at the presidential palace of Miraflores to congratulate their leader on his convincing victory," the diplomat said.