The U.S. says it has serious concerns about the election results in Venezuela after authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro declared a victory in a tumultuous presidential race. Exit polls showed a blowout win for the opposition party. Both Maduro and the opposition have claimed a win, but most world leaders held back from recognizing the results
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Key Terms
authoritarian — favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.
sanction — an official order, such as the stopping of trade, that is taken against a country in order to make it obey international law
Discussion Questions
- Who is Nicolás Maduro? Who is Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia?
- Which countries are supporting Nicolás Maduro's claim to the presidency?
- What are the sanctions that the United States imposed on Venezuela?
- When did Nicolás Maduro first take office?
- How has Nicolás Maduro manipulated the results of the election, according to critics?
Focus Questions
Several countries are concerned with the fairness of Venezuela's voting process and are demanding further evidence. Nicolás Maduro seems unwilling to cooperate and is quickly breaking ties with those who disagree with him. How do you think this issue can be resolved? Do you think other countries should get involved? Explain why or why not.
Media literacy: Can you think of any other presidential elections where the accuracy of the results was called into question by one of the parties? How were those issues reported in the media?
Lesson Plans on International Politics
Find more resources on international politics and how they relate to your students with our free collection of preK-12 lesson plans and teaching resources.
Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.
PBS NewsHour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of NewsHour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More
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