Venezuela’s Maduro says he needs to win reelection to avoid possible ‘bloodbath’

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has told his supporters he must win reelection this month if the country is to avoid a possible “bloodbath.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has told his supporters he must win reelection this month if the country is to avoid a possible “bloodbath.” “If they do not want Venezuela to fall into a bloodbath, into a fratricidal civil war,” the ruling party must win the presidential elections on July 28, Maduro told a campaign event in Caracas on Tuesday. Only a win for his party would ensure “peace” in the country, Maduro said, adding that he expects “irreversible results” in his favor. CNN has reached out to Maduro’s office for further comment on his statements. The Venezuelan strongman has been in power in Venezuela for more than a decade, having assumed the presidency following the death of predecessor Hugo Chavez in 2013, during which time his government has often been accused of rigging votes and silencing the opposition. The 2018 election that returned him to office was described as illegitimate by an alliance of 14 Latin American nations, Canada and the United States, as a “farce” by the Organization of American States, and was largely boycotted by the opposition.