Blinken denounces fraud and affirms that Maduro “has no evidence” to support his victory
The Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has confirmed that the US government recognizes the opposition candidate Edmundo González as the winner of the Venezuelan elections, because there is “overwhelming evidence” that corroborates it, while he has affirmed that the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, “has no evidence” to support his victory.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, more importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the majority of the votes in the Venezuelan presidential elections (held) on July 28,” he indicated through a statement.
The head of US diplomacy has maintained that “the processing of the votes and the announcement of the results by the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) were deeply flawed, which produced an announced result that does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people.”
“The CNE’s rapid declaration that Maduro was the winner of the presidential election had no evidence to support it. The CNE has still not published disaggregated data or any of the vote counting records, despite repeated calls from Venezuelans and the international community to do so,” he criticized.
In this sense, Blinken, who has echoed the report of the Carter Center, specialized in election observation, which has concluded that these elections “cannot be considered democratic,” has added that the “irregularities throughout the process” have “stripped all credibility from the result announced by the CNE.”
On the other hand, he stressed that the “democratic” opposition has published more than 80 percent of the minutes received from the voting centers: “These minutes indicate that Gonzalez received the majority of the votes in these elections by an insurmountable margin.” He also stressed that independent observers have corroborated these figures, as well as exit polls.
“In the days following the elections, we have consulted widely with partners and allies around the world, and while countries have taken different approaches to respond, none have reached the conclusion that Maduro received the majority of the votes in these elections,” he said. The countries that have recognized Maduro’s reelection are Russia, China, Iran, Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Honduras, while the United States and Peru have recognized Gonzalez.
After congratulating the opposition candidate “on his successful campaign,” he said that “it is time for Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful and peaceful transition in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law and the wishes of the Venezuelan people.” “Despite the significant challenges they (Venezuelans) faced, at least twelve million Venezuelans peacefully went to the polls and exercised one of the most powerful rights granted to people in any democracy,” he stressed.
Blinken took the opportunity to “reject Maduro’s baseless accusations against opposition leaders,” referring to threats to arrest opponents, including Edmundo González and María Corina Machado. “They are an anti-democratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power,” he said.
The president has therefore called for the protection of the security of the opposition and for the immediate release of those arrested while “peacefully exercising their right to participate in the electoral process or demanding transparency in the vote count.” “The security and law enforcement forces must not become an instrument of political violence used against citizens who exercise their democratic rights,” he concluded.
Venezuela held elections on Sunday in which, according to the government, President Nicolás Maduro won with just over 51 percent of the votes, despite the fact that there are no official results published. Much of the international community has expressed doubts about the legality of the results and the opposition claims the victory of its candidate, Edmundo González.
