US recognises Maduro’s opponent as winner in Venezuela election

The United States on Thursday (1 August) recognised Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s opponent and opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of Venezuela’s disputed presidential election, rejecting 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 González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Thursday.

The announcement from Washington did not go beyond congratulating him for a “successful campaign,” the closest the US 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.

Opposition calls mass protests

Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called Thursday for protests “in every city” in the nation on Saturday to denounce the disputed reelection of Maduro.

“We must remain firm, organized and mobilized with the pride of having achieved a historic victory on 28 July, and the awareness that to claim victory we will also go all the way,” Machado said on social media.

Earlier Thursday, she wrote in the Wall Street Journal that she was in hiding and “fearing for my life” after Maduro’s contested victory, which led to hundreds of arrests following deadly protests this week.

At least 20 people have died in protests that erupted after the election, according to Machado, while more than 1,000 have been jailed.

Venezuela’s supreme court has summoned all presidential candidates to a hearing on Friday afternoon following Maduro’s request that it initiate a process to investigate and certify the election result.

Diplomatic row

After days of anxiety that left streets largely deserted, normal life has begun to resume in the capital Caracas, with shops opening and public transport operating.

But regional spats were widening, with Venezuela withdrawing diplomats from eight critical Latin American countries and asking envoys from those nations to leave its territory.

Argentine President Javier Milei said his country’s diplomatic staff left Venezuela on Thursday and thanked Brazil for taking custody of its embassy.

Six Venezuelan opposition figures are currently under protection at the Argentine embassy.

Brazil’s foreign ministry announced it was also taking over representation of Peru in Venezuela.

Peru recognized González Urrutia as Venezuela’s legitimate president on Tuesday, prompting Caracas to sever diplomatic ties.

In a joint statement, the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico urged an “impartial verification” of the result, also calling for Caracas to publish voting data broken down by polling stations.

‘Bloodbath’

Sunday’s elections were held in the shadow of Maduro’s warnings of a “bloodbath” if he were to lose, and amid widespread fear the vote would be rigged.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said more than 1,000 people were arrested in protests that erupted on Monday and Tuesday in the wake of the election.

He also said one military officer was killed and 77 officials were injured.

Maduro has led the oil-rich country since 2013, presiding over a GDP drop of 80% that pushed more than seven million of once-wealthy Venezuela’s 30 million citizens to emigrate.

He is accused of locking up critics and harassing opponents in a climate of rising authoritarianism.

Maduro’s previous reelection, in 2018, was rejected by dozens of Latin American and other countries, including the United States and EU members.

Years of damaging US sanctions failed to dislodge the president, who enjoys loyalty from the military leadership, electoral bodies, courts and other state institutions, as well as the backing of Russia, China and Cuba.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)

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