US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed his “serious concerns” about the vote count in the Venezuelan elections, where the National Electoral Council has given victory to President Nicolás Maduro against opposition demands, and has stressed the “fundamental” importance of counting each ballot in a “transparent” manner.
“We have serious concerns that the announced result does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people. It is essential that each vote is counted fairly and transparently, that electoral officials immediately share the information with the opposition and independent observers without delay,” he said.
The top representative of US diplomacy is visiting the Japanese capital, Tokyo, on the occasion of a meeting of the Quad alliance, formed by both nations as well as India and Australia, according to information collected by the American news network CNN.
Blinken has urged the Venezuelan authorities to publish a “detailed table” of the votes, and has praised the “courage and commitment to democracy” of Venezuelan voters “in the face of repression.” “The international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly,” he warned Caracas.
For her part, the US vice president, Kamala Harris, has insisted that Washington “supports the people of Venezuela” and, before the election results were known, has advocated “respecting the will” of the voters; at the same time she has advocated continuing to work “for a more democratic, prosperous and secure future” for Venezuela “despite the many challenges.”
The CNE has confirmed Maduro’s victory with just over half of the votes against the main opposition candidate, Edmundo González, who is said to have garnered 44 percent of the votes, although he and his team – including Maria Corina Machado, elected in primaries as an opposition candidate but disqualified by the Venezuelan justice system – claim a wide victory with close to 70 percent of the votes.
