Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Thursday that the U.S. government is recognizing Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of Venezuela‘s presidential election over incumbent Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement on the U.S. government’s position on the Latin American country’s presidential results, Blinken said Venzueala’s National Electoral Council decision to declare Maduro the victor on Sunday was wrong.
“The CNE’s rapid declaration of Nicolas Maduro as the winner of the presidential election came with no supporting evidence. The CNE still has not published disaggregated data or any of the vote tally sheets, despite repeated calls from Venezuelans and the international community to do so,” Blinken noted.
The secretary of state said Gonzalez was the rightful winner of the Venezuelan presidential election.
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“The democratic opposition has published more than 80 percent of the tally sheets received directly from polling stations throughout Venezuela,” Blinken said. “Those tally sheets indicate that Edmundo González Urrutia received the most votes in this election by an insurmountable margin. Independent observers have corroborated these facts, and this outcome was also supported by election day exit polls and quick counts.”
Maduro rose to power in 2013 and has been accused by the United States and other nations of being corrupt and authoritarian. The country has dealt with economic troubles and the exodus of 7.7 million residents since 2014, according to the Associated Press.
