The stakes have grown even higher for Venezuelan electoral authorities to prove they stand by their decision to declare President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country’s presidential election after the United States on Thursday recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the winner, discrediting the official results of the vote.
The U.S. announcement follows calls from several governments, including close allies of Mr. Maduro, for Venezuela’s National Electoral Council to release detailed vote counts, as it has done in previous elections.
The electorate declared the former president the winner on Monday, but the main opposition coalition revealed hours later that it had evidence to the contrary.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, more 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.
Nicolás Maduro responded with a quick rebuke: “The United States must keep its nose out of Venezuela!”
The U.S. government’s announcement comes amid diplomatic efforts by Brazil, Colombia and Mexico to persuade President Nicolás Maduro’s administration to release vote tallies from Sunday’s election and allow for an impartial audit, a Brazilian government official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Officials have assured the Venezuelan regime that presenting the results is the only way to dispel any doubts about the election, said the Brazilian official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly about such diplomatic efforts.
A Mexican official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the three governments had discussed the issue with Venezuela, but did not provide further details. Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador had said he planned to speak with Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
On Monday, after the National Electoral Council announced Maduro as the winner of the election, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets. The government said it had arrested hundreds of protesters, while the Venezuela-based human rights group Foro Penal said 11 people had been killed. Dozens more political opponents were arrested the next day, including former opposition candidate Freddy Superlano.
“Fearing for my life, my freedom and that of my compatriots”
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — who was barred from running for president — and her presidential candidate, Edmundo González, addressed a huge rally of their supporters in the capital, Caracas, on Tuesday. They have not been seen in public since. Later in the day, National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez called for their arrest, calling them criminals and fascists.
In an opinion piece published Thursday in the Wall Street JournalMme Machado revealed that she is “in hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom and that of my compatriots.” She reaffirmed that the opposition has material evidence of President Maduro’s defeat in the elections and urged the international community to intervene.
“We voted Mr. Maduro out of office,” she wrote. “It is now up to the international community to decide whether to tolerate a manifestly illegitimate government.”
Over the years, government repression has driven opposition leaders into exile. After the article was published, the M teamme Machado told the AP she was “taking shelter” and planned to address Venezuelans later Thursday.
Too close to the court
On Wednesday, Mr. Maduro asked Venezuela’s top court to conduct an audit of the election, but the request drew almost immediate criticism from foreign observers, who said the court was too close to the government to produce an independent review.
It is unclear whether President Maduro’s first concession to demands for greater transparency is the result of talks with Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. The Venezuelan president confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday that he had spoken to his Colombian counterpart about it.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice is closely tied to Mr. Maduro’s government. The court’s judges are nominated by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, which is dominated by the president’s supporters.
Mr. González and Mr.me Machado claims to have obtained more than two-thirds of the tally sheets printed from the electronic voting machines after the polls closed. They have assured that the publication of the data on these tallies would prove that President Maduro lost.
Asked why electoral authorities have not released detailed vote counts, Maduro said the National Electoral Council had been the target of attacks, including cyberattacks, without giving further details.
Pressure on the president has increased since the election.
The National Electoral Council, loyal to Mr. Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has not yet released results broken down by voting machine, as it has done in previous elections. It said, however, that President Maduro had received 5.1 million votes, compared to more than 4.4 million for Mr. González.
Butme Machado, the opposition leader, said the vote count showed Mr. González received about 6.2 million votes, compared to Mr. Maduro’s 2.7 million.
Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves and was once the most advanced economy in Latin America. It went into freefall after President Maduro took over in 2013. Plunging oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that exceeded 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the largest exodus in recent Latin American history.