Opposition questions Venezuela vote results

Pro-government candidates won sweeping victories in Venezuelan gubernatorial races Sunday, but opposition leaders called the election results suspicious. Preelection polls predicted opposition candidates would win most if not nearly all of the offices up for grabs. Venezuela’s economy has plummeted and crime has skyrocketed under the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro. The National Electoral Council said late Sunday that 61 percent of voters participated in the election. “Neither the Venezuelan people nor the world buy that story,” opposition leader Gerardo Blyde said. Maduro said he had “absolute faith” in the official results but would ask the constitutional assembly to request an audit to extinguish any doubts.