By Umamah Bakharia

Venezuela’s regional elections held on Sunday were distorted by an uneven playing field, violence and sanctions against opposition leaders.

Nicolas Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its allies won big at the regional elections and was participated by the opposition for the first time in four years.

The United States, Department of State’s Anthony Blinken issued a statement saying: “Fearful of the voice and vote of Venezuelans, the regime grossly skewed the process to determine the result of this election long before any ballots had been cast.”

It added, “We commend the political parties and candidates as well as voters who decided to participate in this process despite its flaws to preserve and fight for much-needed democratic space.  But that space is limited by Maduro’s efforts to divide and suppress Venezuela’s democratic actors.”

Dr. Dale Mckinley, Independent political analyst with special interest in America’s spoke to Radio Islam live from North Carolina, United States on the elections in Venezuela.

“[Venezuela] is not in a good position, socially and economically [because of] US sanctions, mismanagement, bad governance, economic decisions and over alliance of oil in terms of income streams,” says Dr. McKinley.