Buenos Aires Herald 
Argentina has concluded “without doubts” that Eduardo González Urrutia is “the undisputed winner” of the July 28 elections in Venezuela, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon.
“The majority of the Venezuelan people have expressed themselves in favor of his candidacy and popular will must be respected,” read the communiqué, which also called for the conspiracy charges against González and opposition leader María Corina Machado to be dropped.
The government said that Argentina condemned the criminal investigation a Venezuelan general prosecutor launched against González and Machado on Monday for allegedly inciting insurrection, conspiring, and disseminating false information, among other things.
In the statement, President Javier Milei’s administration also condemned the “arbitrary detention” of opposition political figures, journalists and press workers that have been reported in recent days, as tension shows no sign of relenting in Venezuela.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said that over 2,000 people have been arrested for participating in protests after the elections. During a speech on Tuesday, Maduro called them “terrorists” and that they are being led on to commit crimes by González and Machado.
The Argentine Foreign Ministry called on Venezuelan authorities to comply with the obligations stated in the Diplomatic Relations Vienna Convention regarding “immunity and inviolability of embassies.”
The statement comes two days after the United States government appeared to soften its stance to the Venezuelan electoral process after saying last week that there was “overwhelming evidence” that González was the “clear” winner of the election.
On Monday, Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller clarified that recognizing a new interim leader of the country “is not a step” that the Biden administration is prepared to make, and that it “continues to urge the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a peaceful transition back to democratic norms.”
The rift between Venezuela and Argentina
The fallout of the Venezuelan elections has deepened the rift that already existed between the Presidents Milei and Maduro. The Argentine leader was one of the first to reject the results, calling his Venezuelan counterpart a “dictator.” The Venezuelan government decided to expel all Argentine diplomats on account of this and also recall its representatives from Buenos Aires.
Brazil has taken over the embassy in Caracas to assume representation of Argentine interests in Venezuela, as well as protect the archives and everything inside the building. Six members of the Venezuelan opposition who have been inside the compound since March after requesting political asylum remain there.
On Friday, Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino said that González won the presidential elections — only to be contradicted two hours later by a statement from her own ministry.
The communiqué said that, while Argentina was one of the first countries to reject the official results of the elections, it was following developments in Venezuela with “extreme attention and concern in view of making a definitive statement,” which was finally published on Wednesday.
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