Venezuela opposition vote monitors say 7.2 mln people cast ballots

CARACAS (Reuters) - Nearly 7.2 million Venezuelans participated in an informal plebiscite organized on Sunday by the opposition against leftist President Nicolas Maduro's government, according to academics monitoring the vote. That was not far off the total opposition vote of 7.7 million votes in Venezuela's December 2015 parliamentary elections and was hailed by Maduro's foes as a resounding expression of popular discontent against him. (Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Himani Sarkar)