Nicolás Maduro, who was hand-picked (and, apparently tweeted at) by the late Hugo Chávez to be his successor, won a narrow victory in Venezuela's April 14 presidential election with 50.7 percent of the vote, a margin of just 235,000 votes. Opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has remained defiant, and though he canceled plans for a large protest, at least seven have died in impromptu demonstrations. Capriles has demanded a recount of the ballots, telling supporters, "We are not going to recognize the results until every vote is counted." On Wednesday,U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in House testimony that he supports a recount in the Venezuelan election and that the State Department has not yet decided whether it will acknowledge Maduro's election as legitimate. Though Maduro replied to the statement angrily, saying, "Take your eyes off of Venezuela, John Kerry. Get out of here. Enough interventionism," Venezuelan officials announced on Thursday night plans for a partial recount.
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