US names opposition leader in Venezuela ‘president-elect’ after controversial vote – National
The US government recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González as “president” of the South American country on Tuesday, months after President Nicolas Maduro claimed he had won the July contest.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed González to the X post where he also called for “respect for the will” of the Venezuelan voters.
The administration of US President Joe Biden previously said that González received the most votes in the disputed July 28 election but failed to accept him as the president-elect.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which is dominated by Maduro’s supporters, declared Maduro the winner of the election hours after polls closed. Unlike previous presidential elections, election authorities did not provide detailed vote tallies.
But the opposition coalition collected statistical papers from 80% of the nation’s voting machines and posted them online. González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said voting records showed the former diplomat won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.
“We greatly appreciate the recognition of the sovereign will of all the Venezuelan people,” González said in a post to X after Blinken’s statement on Tuesday. “This act honors the desire to change our people and the community service we did together on July 28.”
González left Venezuela in September for exile in Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with an investigation into the publication of vote tallies.
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Venezuela’s government press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Maduro and the electoral authorities have rejected repeated calls from the US, the European Union, Colombia, Brazil and other countries to show detailed records of votes in favor of the president’s re-election.
Criticism immediately after the election for a lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice, whose members are aligned with the ruling party, to review the results. The high court also confirmed his victory.
Experts from the United Nations and the US-based Carter Center, which are observing the election at the invitation of Maduro’s government, have decided that the results announced by the election authorities lack credibility. UN experts stopped short of verifying the opposition’s claim of victory but said the party’s voting records published online appeared to show all real security features.
Earlier in the week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has good relations with Maduro, withdrew his support for the July election, calling the vote “a mistake.”
Petro spoke in an interview with the Brazilian news agency, Globo News, which released excerpts online that Petro’s office shared on social media on Tuesday. Petro told reporters on Monday during a visit to Brazil for the G20 summit that he was initially in favor of Venezuela holding elections, but later decided that the vote was “not free.”
“I think the election was a mistake,” said Petro. His office did not immediately respond to a request to elaborate on the reasons for his change of heart.
The next term of the president of Venezuela starts on Jan. 10. Maduro has already accepted an invitation from the National Assembly controlled by the ruling party for the swearing-in ceremony.
–Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Astrid Suarez contributed to this report from Bogota, Colombia.
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