US Demands Venezuela Release Voting Records Following Chavez’s Victory Claim
The opposition claims to have won 70 percent of the vote, citing it as ‘the largest margin of victory’ in the nation’s history.
The United States has urged Venezuela to release data from its July 28 election.
The Biden administration has called on the National Electoral Council to publish a tabulation of the votes from the precincts.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council declared incumbent President Nicolás Maduro the winner with 51 percent of the vote and main opposition candidate Edmundo González with 44 percent.
“If there is resistance to providing that additional information, then I think that becomes highly problematic when it comes to the ability of the United States or other members of the international community to judge whether these elections were in fact inclusive and credible,” an administration official told reporters on July 29.
Administration officials, including White House national security adviser John Kirby, said on July 29 that it is commendable that Venezuelans cast their votes amidst a totalitarian environment in the South American country.
At the same time, they expressed concern that the election results do not reflect the will and votes of the Venezuelan people, as stated by Mr. Kirby.
“We have never been moved by hatred. On the contrary, we have always been victims of the powerful,” Mr. Maduro, who has been in power since March 2013, said on national television.
“An attempt is being made to impose a coup d’état in Venezuela again of a fascist and counterrevolutionary nature.”
Opposition leader Maria Machado dismissed the council’s announcement.
After Mr. Maduro broke his promise to hold a free and fair election earlier this year and disqualified candidates, including Ms. Machado, from running, the U.S. government reinstated oil sanctions on the country after lifting them last year.
A senior administration official told reporters that the United States will continue to evaluate its sanctions policy toward Caracas “in light of overall U.S. national foreign policy interests, the actions and non-actions that are taken by Maduro and his representatives, and the overall direction of travel as it relates to our broader U.S. bilateral engagement with Venezuela.”
According to an official, independent poll watchers were barred from entering Venezuela despite Mr. Maduro initially agreeing to admit them.
The election was held on what would have been former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s 70th birthday. Mr. Chavez ruled the nation as a totalitarian leader for more than 14 years before Mr. Maduro.
The Venezuelan economy shrunk by 71 percent between 2012 and 2020 but is projected to grow by 4 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
