The stakes grew higher for Venezuela’s electoral authority to show proof backing its decision to declare President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country’s presidential election after the United States on Thursday recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the victor, discrediting the official results of the vote.
The U.S. announcement followed calls from multiple governments, including close allies of Maduro, for Venezuela’s National Electoral Council to release detailed vote counts, as it has done during previous elections.
The electoral body declared Maduro the winner Monday, but the main opposition coalition revealed hours later that it had evidence to the contrary in the form of more than two-thirds of the tally sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after polls closed.
“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,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Maduro responded with a quick admonishment: “The United States needs to keep its nose out of Venezuela!”
The U.S. government announcement came amid diplomatic efforts to persuade Maduro to release vote tallies from the election and increasing calls for an independent review of the results, according to officials from Brazil and México.
Government officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant communication with Maduro’s administration to convince him that he must show the vote tally sheets from Sunday’s election and allow impartial verification, a Brazilian government official told The Associated Press Thursday.
在美国周四承认反对派候选人埃德蒙多·冈萨雷斯为胜利者、质疑官方投票结果后，委内瑞拉选举当局拿出证据支持其宣布总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗为该国总统选举获胜者的决定变得越来越重要。 在美国宣布这一消息之前，包括马杜罗的亲密盟友在内的多个政府呼吁委内瑞拉全国选举委员会公布详细的计票结果，就像在之前的选举中所做的那样。 选举机构周一宣布马杜罗获胜，但主要反对派联盟在数小时后透露，根据投票结束后每台电子投票机打印的超过三分之二计票单，他们有相反的证据。 美国国务卿安东尼·布林肯在一份声明中表示：“鉴于压倒性的证据，美国、最重要的是委内瑞拉人民都清楚，埃德蒙多·冈萨雷斯·乌鲁蒂亚在委内瑞拉 7 月 28 日的总统选举中赢得了最多选票。” 马杜罗迅速警告道：“美国需要不要插手委内瑞拉！” 据巴西和墨西哥官员称，美国政府宣布这一消息之际，正在通过外交努力说服马杜罗公布选举计票结果，并且要求对选举结果进行独立审查的呼声越来越高。 巴西政府官员周四告诉美联社，巴西、哥伦比亚和墨西哥的政府官员一直与马杜罗政府保持联系，以说服他必须出示周日选举的计票表并允许公正的核查。
