Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González attends a meeting with women from different walks of life in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 11, 2024.
Ariana Cubillos/AP
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Ariana Cubillos/AP
CARACAS, Venezuela — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday that the opposition was the clear winner of Venezuela’s recent presidential election, not the current authoritarian leader.
Washington’s support comes as regional leaders are pressing President Nicolas Maduro to provide evidence of his self-declared victory.
Blinken said the evidence was clear that the opposing candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the race on Sunday. He criticized Venezuela’s electoral council for conducting a deeply flawed election that clearly did not reflect the will of voters.
Blinken said it was time for the parties in Venezuela to begin discussions on a peaceful transition that respects Venezuela’s electoral laws and the will of the Venezuelan people.
Maduro’s electoral council has refused to release the election tally publicly. Opponents say they have collected 80% of the tally, which shows Gonzalez winning two-thirds of the vote. Maduro was declared the winner with 51% of the vote.
The leaders of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia have called on Maduro to release all the votes. He has claimed, without evidence, that the council was hacked. More than 1,000 people, many of whom protested the alleged voter fraud, have been arrested.
After the most recent election in 2018 was widely criticized as neither free nor fair, countries including the United States recognized then-opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim president and imposed sanctions on Venezuela.
