The United States government said that there was “overwhelming evidence” that opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia was the “clear” winner of the Venezuela presidential elections last Sunday and called on all parties to begin a “peaceful and respectful transition” in accordance with the law. 

“We fully support the process of re-establishing democratic norms in Venezuela and stand ready to consider ways to bolster it jointly with our international partners,” read the communiqué published by Secretary of State Antony Blinken. 

The statement said that the declaration of the National Eectoral Council (CNE, for its Spanish initials) calling Nicolás Maduro the winner came with “no supporting evidence.” It cited a Carter Center report on the elections, adding that the failure to provide precinct-level official results and the irregularities throughout the process were evidence that the CNE’s announcement lacked “any credibility.”

The Biden administration also pointed to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s announcement that her team had results from their vote counting system, demonstrating that the true winner of Sunday’s elections was Edmundo González Urrutia, not Nicolás Maduro. They also rejected Maduro’s threats to opposition figures, calling them “an undemocratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power.”

International leaders have questioned the results and called for a careful, transparent vote count. The foreign ministries of nine countries issued a joint communiqué calling for a “transparent vote count” that would ensure voters’ will is respected and “allow for verification and control from auditors and delegates from every candidate.”

On Monday, Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Yvan Gil announced the withdrawal of all diplomatic personnel from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Panama, and Uruguay, seven of the nine countries that objected to the election results. The communiqué, published on X, also demanded that each country recall their representatives from Caracas. 

“Venezuela expresses its firmest rejection of interfering actions and declarations from a group of right-wing governments subordinated to Washington and openly committed to the most sordid ideological stances of international fascism,” Gil posted on X alongside a megaphone emoji.

Cover photo: A group of people protesting outside the Venezuelan Embassy in Buenos Aires. Credit: Ana Pouchard Serra