Brazil and Colombia call for new elections in Venezuela

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Brazil and Colombia have called on Venezuela to hold new presidential elections to end a crisis that erupted after Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner without providing evidence from polls.

The socialist dictatorship’s claim of re-election victory, which was not recognized by the United States, the EU and most Latin American countries, was followed by a deadly crackdown on protesters in the days following the vote.

However, the proposal for a re-vote was rejected by Venezuela’s opposition leader. Maria Corina MachadoThe opposition declared their candidate, Edmundo González, the winner with more than double the vote and released thousands of ballot receipts online.

“The election has already taken place,” Machado said at a news conference on Thursday. “If [Maduro] Don’t like this result, should we try a third time?”

of Venezuela The National Electoral Council, controlled by Maduro’s allies, has not released detailed results since declaring Maduro the winner. win last month

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday he has yet to accept Maduro’s declared victory, saying “he [Maduro] knows that he owes Brazilian society and the world an explanation.”

He repeated his call for the release of polling data but also suggested in a radio interview that there might be other ways out of the impasse, including new elections: “You can form a coalition government, call in the opposition. Many people in my government did not vote for me.”

Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s leftist president, supports new elections, a transitional coalition government, domestic and international amnesty, and “the lifting of all sanctions against Venezuela.”

“An internal political agreement in Venezuela is the best path to peace,” he wrote on X.

US President Joe Biden was also asked by reporters at the White House on Thursday whether he supported new elections in Venezuela. He replied “I do,” without providing further details.

A National Security Council spokesperson later clarified that Biden was “speaking about the absurdity of Maduro and his surrogates not being truthful about the July 28 election.”

“The United States again calls for respect for the will of the Venezuelan people and for discussions to begin on a transition back to democratic norms,” the spokesperson added.

Maduro criticized Biden’s initial comments Thursday night. “Biden made comments about interfering in Venezuela’s internal affairs… and half an hour later [the US administration] “It was shut down,” he told a film crew, adding that he denied that “the United States is trying to become the electoral body of Venezuela.”

He also appeared to reject Brazil and Colombia’s proposal for new elections. “I don’t practice microphone diplomacy,” he said. “Otherwise, one becomes an adviser to other countries.”

Brasília and Bogotá, whose presidents have traditionally been sympathetic to Venezuela’s leftist government, are pressing for more transparency from Caracas while also seeking to foster reconciliation between Maduro and the opposition, an approach that contrasts with the more forceful condemnation from many Western nations.

Mexico initially joined the initiative but leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced this week that he would not participate in the talks.

“I understand the interest of these countries in stability, but remember that stability does not mean a democratic transition,” said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The dark side of all of this is that, in theory, stability can be achieved through repression. A country can be stable, but only if it is repressed in a stable way.”

In power since 2013, Maduro has overseen the collapse of Venezuela’s oil-dependent economy, rising repression and the exodus of nearly a quarter of the population. He has described the unrest as part of a “fascist” and “counter-revolutionary” coup attempt backed by the United States. billionaire Elon Musk and Western social media companies.

The United States congratulated González for winning the most votes, although it has yet to recognize him as president-elect.

Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Peru and Uruguay have also recognized González’s victory, while Maduro’s allies in Cuba, Russia, Iran and China were quick to congratulate him on his re-election.

A group of 20 former US officials and diplomats on Wednesday signed an open letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which they called on the Biden administration to take a tougher stance on Maduro.

“The diplomatic efforts of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico are noteworthy, but there is no substitute for U.S. leadership mobilizing like-minded democratic governments to pressure the regime to respect the election results and accept a timely transfer of power,” the group wrote.

Additional reporting by Christine Murray in Mexico City and Lauren Fedor in Washington