Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro blames unrest on far-right conspiracy as isolation grows

Leader says perverse and macabre' electoral rivals are stoking protests as US official calls for governments to acknowledge Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as election winner

Nicolas Maduro has gone on the offensive after suspicions that he stole last Sunday's presidential election plunged Venezuela into turmoil and diplomatic isolation, blaming the unrest on a far-right conspiracy being spearheaded by perverse and macabre" political foes.

Addressing foreign journalists at the presidential palace in Caracas - as international condemnation of the allegedly rigged election grew - Venezuela's authoritarian leader struck a defiant note.