US Foreign Minister Speaks of “Incontrovertible Evidence” of Opposition Victory Over Nicolas Maduro

For its part, the opposition denounced “massive fraud” and called for demonstrations on Saturday “in all the cities” of the country.

For Washington, it is the Venezuelan opposition that won. US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Thursday, August 1, that there were “indisputable evidence” that the opposition candidate had won the presidential election in Venezuela against Nicolas Maduro, whose re-election sparked large protests. “Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people, that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the most votes in the July 28 presidential election.”the Secretary of State said in a statement.

Colombia, Brazil and Mexico, all three of which have relatively good relations with Chavist Venezuela, have also expressed doubts, calling for “an impartial verification of the results”, and this “with speed”.

Heir to the socialist and Bolivarian leader Hugo Chavez, Nicolas Maduro, 61, in power since 2013, was re-elected for a third term until 2031, at the end of Sunday’s election won with 51.2% of the vote against 44.2% for his opponent, according to official results. But the National Electoral Council, which reported a computer hack, has not published the detailed results by polling station while the opposition says it has gathered more than 80% of the ballot papers. According to this count, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received 67% of the votes.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and her candidate denounced a “massive fraud” and demanded that the ballots be recounted transparently. She also called for protests on Saturday “in all cities” from the country. “We must remain firm, organized and mobilized with the pride of having achieved a historic victory” Sunday, she said, promising to go “until the end”.