The U.S. government has stated that “it is clear” that Edmundo González Urrutia won the Venezuelan presidential elections.
In the midst of the controversy over the results of the Venezuelan presidential elections, the U.S. government has recognized Edmundo González as the winner.
Through a statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “The CNE’s quick statement that Nicolás Maduro was the winner of the presidential election had no evidence to back it up. The CNE has yet to release disaggregated data or any of the vote tally sheets, despite repeated calls from Venezuelans and the international community to do so.”
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, more importantly, to the Venezuelan people, that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the majority of votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” the official acknowledged.
On behalf of the United States, Blinken also congratulated Edmundo González Urrutia for the “success of his campaign”. In addition, he rejected Maduro’s accusations against the opposition, as well as the threats of arrest against Edmundo González and María Corina Machado. “They are an anti-democratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power,” Blinken pointed out.
Official results according to the CNE
Last Monday, one day after the presidential elections, the National Electoral Council (CNE) named Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the elections in Venezuela, who, according to the body, obtained 51.20 percent of the votes.
Elvis Amoroso, president of the CNE, assured that the results were “conclusive and irreversible”. However, according to a count carried out by the opposition, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had a resounding victory.
The Venezuelan opposition created a web portal with the results of the electoral reports, which are received, verified and digitalized. According to the tally of these tally sheets, the presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez obtained more than 7 million votes and Maduro about 3.2 million.
Previously, President Biden had indicated that together with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, he agreed on the need for the Venezuelan electoral authorities to publish complete, transparent and detailed voting data.