U.S. concludes opposition candidate Edmundo González won Venezuelan presidential election

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement this Thursday in which he asserted that based on “overwhelming evidence,” Washington has concluded opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia was the winner of the July 28 presidential elections in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan electoral authorities announced shortly after the polls closed Sunday night that with 80% of votes counter, Nicolás Maduro was the winner had been with 51.2% of the votes. That raised suspicions of fraud in the United States since the National Electoral Council (CNE), a Maduro electoral controlled agency, has not provided a complete count.

The U.S. previously showed caution, waiting for more information until it had detailed data from polling stations, which Caracas was not providing.

In a post published on social media, Blinken said, “Electoral data overwhelmingly demonstrates the will of the Venezuelan people: democratic opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Sunday’s election.”

The United States called on the parties involved in the Venezuelan crisis to address a transition process that respects the desire for the electoral outcome and said it will support a process of “restoration of democratic norms” in Venezuela.

At the beginning of the week, the United States requested to see the vote tallies to make a statement. U.S. officials have also been in contact with Brazil. President Biden, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva had a call on the matter, discussing the importance of compelling the Maduro regime to engage in more transparency on the matter.

This Thursday, Blinken announced in a statement released by the State Department that the U.S. believed the scrutiny presented by the opposition coalition, led by María Corina Machado, and which represents 80% of the polling stations, shows that González Urrutia received the majority of votes with huge margin.

“The democratic opposition has published more than 80 percent of the tally sheets received directly from polling stations throughout Venezuela,” he explained. “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. 

Blinken recalled that the vote tallies were “received directly from the polling stations throughout Venezuela” and corroborate the exit polls and the conclusions of independent observers and quick counts.

“In the days since the election, we have consulted widely with partners and allies around the world, and while countries have taken different approaches in responding, none have concluded that Nicolás Maduro received the most votes this election,”  the American diplomacy chief said.

He added it was “time for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful, peaceful transition in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law and the wishes of the Venezuelan people.”

Blinken recalled that the “quick” declaration of the National Electoral Council (CNE) that gave victory to Maduro on Sunday "came without any evidence to support it" and the organization "has not published disaggregated data and no minutes yet", despite the international calls to do so.

“The CNE’s rapid declaration of Nicolás 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.  As the independent Carter Center’s observation mission reported, the CNE’s failure to provide the precinct-level official results, as well as irregularities throughout the process, have stripped the CNE’s announced outcome of any credibility,” his statement said.

The U.S. secretary of state pointed out that the Carter Center's observation mission “has stripped the results announced by the CNE of all credibility.”

The Venezuelan opposition determined, based on records obtained independently, that Edmundo González Urrutia obtained around 70% of the votes, compared to around 30% for Nicolás Maduro