VENEZUELA went to the polls on Sunday with Nicolas Maduro seeking a new six-year term as president.

United Socialist Party of Venezuela candidate Mr Maduro, who has been president since 2013, is seeking a third term in office on elections held on what would have been the 70th birthday of former President Hugo Chavez, the revered left-wing leader who died of cancer in 2013.

During the campaign hundreds of thousands have turned out to rallies in support of Mr Maduro during which they have heard the president highlighting the importance of Venezuela overcoming the more than 900 of economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union. 

Mr Maduro described these sanctions as “the most criminal aggression that has been made against us in history.”

He said Venezuela had defeated the sanctions and the blockade, and the country was now targeting economic prosperity, “but for that, we need peace and stability.”

Venezuela sits on the world's largest proven oil reserves, making it a target for US companies looking for a slice of the potential profits. 

Venezuela has also played in leading role in efforts to move away from unipolar US world dominance and has developed close ties with China.

Mr Maduro has emphasised that his administration is the continuation of the administration of Mr Chavez, whom he remembered as the spark of progressive politics in Latin America in the decades before he died.

He told his final election rally on Friday that “the spring era would not have existed in Latin America if there had not been a commander, father and teacher, Hugo Chavez Frias.” 

There are eight others standing against Mr Maduro but the main challenger is the US-backed right-wing opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.

Mr Gonzales, a retired diplomat, is representing a coalition of right-wing opposition parties and appears to be drawing much of his support within the country from the wealthy.