By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) announced Monday that it will hold a special meeting on the results of Venezuela’s presidential election.
The meeting will take place Wednesday at 3 p.m. local time (1900GMT) in Washington, D.C., it said in a statement.
The decision came after several countries, including Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic called for an emergency meeting of the OAS to thoroughly review the election results.
President Nicolas Maduro, 61, was declared the winner of Venezuela’s presidential election held on Sunday, giving him a third term in office.
According to the National Electoral Council (CNE), Maduro secured 51% of the vote against 44% received by opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
The announcement was made early Monday by Elvis Amoroso, head of the electoral authority, who said the results are based on 80% of voting stations.
The opposition, led by Maria Corina Machado, rejected the results, claiming they do not correspond to the votes cast.