Caracas: Venezuelan opposition leaders said they anticipated victory Sunday after polls closed in a legislative election, though electoral authorities had yet to publish any results of the vote.
Senior figures in the broad opposition coalition MUD started effectively claiming victory, including Henrique Capriles and Lilian Tintori, wife of the jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez.
"The results are what we hoped for! Venezuela has won!" Capriles, leader of the Justice First party, wrote on Twitter.
Tintori, whose husband leads the Popular Will party, said in a video message published online: "We have won by a lot, we have won well!"
The state National Electoral Council (CNE) had yet to release results and there was no official comment from President Nicolas Maduro`s government, though his supporters also celebrated in the street in eastern Caracas.
