The US government recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the South American country’s “president-elect” on Tuesday, months after President Nicolas Maduro declared victory in July’s election.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized Gonzalez in a post on X in which he also called for “respecting the will” of Venezuelan voters.
The administration of US President Joe Biden had previously said that Gonzalez received the largest number of votes in the disputed July 28 elections, but did not recognize him as president-elect.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which includes a large number of Maduro loyalists, announced Maduro’s victory in the elections hours after the polls closed. Unlike previous presidential elections, electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts.
But the opposition coalition collected census papers from 80% of the country’s electronic voting machines and posted them online. Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said voting records showed the former diplomat won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.
“We greatly appreciate the recognition of the sovereign will of all Venezuelans,” Gonzalez said in a post on X shortly after Blinken’s statement on Tuesday. “This gesture honors our people’s desire for change and the civic achievement we accomplished together on July 28.”
Gonzalez left Venezuela in September, heading into exile in Spain, after an arrest warrant was issued against him in connection with an investigation into the publication of vote tally sheets.
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The Venezuelan government’s central press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Maduro and electoral authorities have rejected repeated calls from the United States, the European Union, Colombia, Brazil and other countries to show detailed voting records supporting the president’s re-election.
The swift post-election condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice, whose members are allied with the ruling party, to review the results. The Supreme Court confirmed his victory.
Experts from the United Nations and the US-based Carter Center, who monitored the elections at the invitation of the Maduro government, considered that the results announced by the electoral authorities lacked credibility. The UN experts stopped short of verifying the opposition’s claim of victory, but said the faction’s voting records posted online appeared to show all the original security features.
Earlier in the week, Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who has friendly relations with Maduro, backed away from his support for the July elections, calling the vote a “mistake.”
Petro spoke in an interview with Brazilian news outlet Globo News, which published excerpts online that Petro’s office shared Tuesday on social media. Petro told news outlets Monday while visiting Brazil for the G20 summit that he was initially in favor of Venezuela holding elections, but later decided the vote was not “free.”
“I think the election was a mistake,” Petro said. His office did not immediately respond to a request to explain the reasons for his change of mind.
The next presidential term in Venezuela begins on January 10. Maduro has already accepted an invitation from the ruling party-controlled National Assembly to attend the swearing-in ceremony.
—Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writer Astrid Suarez contributed to this report from Bogotá, Colombia.
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