Venezuela’s opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez is the winner of the presidential election, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, rejecting incumbent president Nicolas Maduro’s claim of victory.
“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 Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” Blinken said in a statement on Thursday.
The announcement from Washington did not go beyond
congratulating him for a “successful campaign,” the closest the
U.S. has come since Sunday’s contested election to recognizing
Gonzalez as the OPEC nation’s new leader.
The dispute over the presidential election results has
sparked protests in Venezuela. Venezuela’s electoral council
proclaimed Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, the winner of the July 28 election with 51% of the vote.
But the country’s opposition says its tally of about 90% of
the votes shows that Gonzalez received more than double the
support of the incumbent president, in line with independent
polling conducted before the contest.
The opposition has released detailed tallies on a public
website, while the government has so far not shared any
information beyond a national total of votes for each candidate.
The statement from Blinken on Thursday stopped short of
threatening new sanctions on Venezuela but he hinted at possible
“punitive action.” Reuters reported on Tuesday that Washington
was considering fresh sanctions following the disputed election.
“We fully support the process of re-establishing democratic
norms in Venezuela and stand ready to consider ways to bolster
it jointly with our international partners,” Blinken said.
Blinken also urged that opposition leaders be protected and
kept safe.
“Law enforcement and security forces should not become an
instrument of political violence used against citizens
exercising their democratic rights,” he said.
The presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia called for
Venezuela to release detailed voting tallies on Thursday amid
the dispute over presidential election results.
With Reuters inputs
