The United States on Thursday night recognised Venezuela’s opposition presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, as the winner of the country’s disputed election. The announcement, by secretary of state Antony Blinken, comes despite a claim by the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro, and by the govt-controlled electoral body, that Maduro had won the Sunday election.
Maduro has yet to produce clear evidence of a victory, and election officials have failed to provide a vote count. Gonzalez’s campaign says it has receipts from more than 80% of voting machines that indicate he won by an insurmountable margin. While some leaders have voiced support for Gonzalez in recent days, the US is the largest nation to recognise him as the winner. The govt of Uruguay on Friday recognised the opposition as the rightful winner. Argentine foreign minister Diana Mondino posted on X: “We can all confirm, without a doubt, that the legitimate winner is Edmundo Gonzalez.”
The decision is sure to anger Maduro, who has long characterised Washington as meddling imperialists. But it’s unclear if the announcement will have any effect on Maduro’s grip on power. Venezuela’s foreign minister Yvan Gil said Friday that Washington was “at the forefront of a coup attempt”. Maduro, himself, did not respond to the statement. But just as it was issued, he wrote on X, that he was willing to talk to the US “if the US govt is willing to respect sovereignty and stop threatening Venezuela.” It is the most significant electoral threat to Maduro since he took office in 2013.
Maduro has yet to produce clear evidence of a victory, and election officials have failed to provide a vote count. Gonzalez’s campaign says it has receipts from more than 80% of voting machines that indicate he won by an insurmountable margin. While some leaders have voiced support for Gonzalez in recent days, the US is the largest nation to recognise him as the winner. The govt of Uruguay on Friday recognised the opposition as the rightful winner. Argentine foreign minister Diana Mondino posted on X: “We can all confirm, without a doubt, that the legitimate winner is Edmundo Gonzalez.”
The decision is sure to anger Maduro, who has long characterised Washington as meddling imperialists. But it’s unclear if the announcement will have any effect on Maduro’s grip on power. Venezuela’s foreign minister Yvan Gil said Friday that Washington was “at the forefront of a coup attempt”. Maduro, himself, did not respond to the statement. But just as it was issued, he wrote on X, that he was willing to talk to the US “if the US govt is willing to respect sovereignty and stop threatening Venezuela.” It is the most significant electoral threat to Maduro since he took office in 2013.