CARACAS, Aug 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The stakes grew higher for Venezuela’s electoral authority to show proof backing its decision to declare President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country’s presidential election after the United States recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the victor, discrediting the official results of the vote.
The U.S. announcement followed calls from multiple governments, including close allies of Maduro, for Venezuela’s National Electoral Council to release detailed vote counts, as it has done during previous elections.
The electoral body declared Maduro the winner Monday, but the main opposition coalition revealed hours later that it had evidence to the contrary in the form of more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Maduro responded with a quick admonishment: “The United States needs to keep its nose out of Venezuela!”RELATED STORIES
The U.S. government announcement came amid diplomatic efforts to persuade Maduro to release vote tallies from the election and increasing calls for an independent review of the results, according to officials from Brazil and México.
Government officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant communication with Maduro’s administration to convince him that he must show the vote tally sheets from Sunday’s election and allow impartial verification, a Brazilian government official told the Press Thursday.
The officials have told Venezuela’s government that showing the data is the only way to dispel any doubt about the results, said the Brazilian official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the diplomatic efforts and requested anonymity.
A Mexican official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, confirmed the three governments have been discussing the issue with Venezuela but did not provide details.
Earlier, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he planned to speak with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia.
Later Thursday, the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico issued a joint statement calling on Venezuela’s electoral authorities “to move forward expeditiously and publicly release” detailed voting data, but they did not confirm any backroom diplomatic efforts to persuade Maduro’s government to publish the vote tallies.
“The fundamental principle of popular sovereignty must be respected through impartial verification of the results,” they said in the statement.
On Monday, after the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner of the election, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets. The government said it arrested hundreds of protesters and Venezuela-based human rights organization Foro Penal said 11 people were killed. Dozens more were arrested the following day, including a former opposition candidate, Freddy Superlano.
On Wednesday, Maduro asked Venezuela’s highest court to conduct an audit of the election, but that request drew almost immediate criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review.
Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice is closely aligned with Maduro’s government. The court’s justices are nominated by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro sympathizers.
On Thursday, the court accepted Maduro’s request for an audit and ordered him, González and the eight other candidates who participated in the presidential election to appear before the justices Friday. — NNN-AGENCIES
