The United States government announced on Wednesday that it recognizes the Venezuelan opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, as the winner of the presidential elections.
Brian Nichols, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. State Department, said at the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) that there is irrefutable evidence showing that Edmundo González defeated Nicolás Maduro by millions of votes, although the electoral authority has not yet published the records of the elections.
"The National Electoral Council (CNE), controlled by Maduro, declared him the winner of the elections without publishing any detailed data or recounts at the polling station level. The partial results announced by the CNE of 80 percent (of the count) were contrary to the surveys before the elections, the close results, and the numerous recounts prepared by experts and observers," Nichols stated.
During his speech, he criticized that after days of requests for the publication of results by polling station, the government has not shown any data of that kind or any evidence, despite the promise to do so, while the deadline for this, according to Venezuelan law, has expired.
"The answer seems very clear: either they know that the results show González is the winner and do not want to present them, or they know that González won and Maduro needs to prepare falsified documents to support his claim," pointed out the U.S. official.
Nichols also said that Venezuelans already knew that these elections do not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic, which is why the announcement from the CNE has no value.
"Maduro and his representatives must recognize Edmundo as the winner of the presidential elections, the world must also acknowledge González's electoral victory. Those who do not do so will be facilitating Maduro's massive attempt at fraud and his disrespect for the rule of law and democratic principles," he concluded.
Patience is wearing thin, says White House spokesperson.
The White House National Security spokesperson, John Kirby, stated during a press conference from the White House that both the patience of the United States and that of the international community is running out as they await the Venezuelan authorities to "be honest" and publish the records of the elections so that the announced results can be demonstrated.
Kirby referred to the report from the Carter Center, which concluded that the elections in Venezuela lack sufficient electoral integrity and do not meet international standards, therefore "they cannot be considered democratic."
"I simply want to reiterate that the United States joins other democracies in the region - and indeed around the world - in expressing serious concerns about these subversions of democratic norms. [...] The Venezuelan people have taken to the streets to demand that their votes be counted. They cannot be blamed for that," said the senior U.S. official.
Kirby indicated that the U.S. government has serious concerns about reports of victims, violence, and arrests, including the orders issued against opposition leaders.
"We condemn political violence and repression of any kind," concluded the spokesperson.
Since Maduro's self-proclaimed victory, an increasing number of voices in the international community, including the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), and numerous Latin American countries, have urged Maduro's government to publish the voting records to confirm the results.
Protests against chavismo since late Sunday have resulted so far in at least eleven dead and more than 1,000 protesters detained.
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