“It is the sovereign people who govern in Venezuela, who put, who choose, who say, who decide,” Maduro responded to the US, which recognised the victory of opposition leader Edmundo González.
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Venezuela’s president told the United States to “get the hell out” of the country after Washington admitted victory to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in Sunday’s presidential election.
“The United States must keep its nose out of Venezuela because it is the sovereign people who govern in Venezuela, who put, who elect, who say, who decide,” said Nicolás Maduro, in statements broadcast by the state television channel VTV.
Maduro was reacting to a statement by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in which he said the US administration had concluded, based on “overwhelming evidence,” that González Urrutia was the winner of the July 28 presidential election in Venezuela.
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The head of US diplomacy said he considered The vote count presented by the opposition, headed by María Corina Machado, is validwhich represents 80% of the polling stations and shows that González Urrutia “received the majority of votes by an insurmountable margin.”
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Blinken recalled that the counts were “received directly from polling stations across Venezuela” and corroborate exit polls and the conclusions of independent observers and quick counts.
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“Since Election Day, we have consulted intensively with partners and allies around the world, and while each country has taken different paths to respond, none has come to the conclusion that Nicolás Maduro received the most votes”, he said.
Blinken recalled that the “rapid” declaration of the National Electoral Council (CNE), which gave victory to Maduro on Sunday, “came without any evidence to support it” and without having, until now, “published disaggregated data or minutes,” despite international calls for it to do so.
The Secretary of State further stated that the Carter Center observation mission “removed all credibility from the results announced by the CNE,” stating that it “could not verify or corroborate the authenticity of the results” declared, stressing that it constituted “a serious violation of electoral principles” that “the electoral authority did not announce the results broken down by table.”
The Venezuelan opposition determined, based on independently obtained notifications, that Edmundo González obtained about 70% of the votes, compared to about 30% for Maduro.
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On Monday, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Maduro president-elect for the 2025-2031 period, with 51.2% (5.15 million) of the votes.
The main opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained 44.2% (just under 4.5 million votes), the CNE said.
Source: Observadora
