After the National Electoral Council of Venezuela declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the country’s presidential election, the United States recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González as the victor, disputing the official results. The U.S. Department of State, along with other governments, called for detailed vote counts to be released. The opposition coalition claimed to have evidence contradicting the official results, with more than two-thirds of tally sheets supporting González.
The U.S. government, along with officials from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, have been working to persuade Maduro to release the vote tally sheets and allow for independent verification of the results. Opposition leaders, including González and Maria Corina Machado, have been speaking out against the election results and calling for international intervention.
Maduro has faced criticism and pressure to release detailed vote counts since the election. The National Electoral Council, loyal to Maduro’s party, has not released results broken down by voting machine, leading to further skepticism about the validity of the election.
Venezuela has experienced economic turmoil and mass emigration since Maduro took office in 2013. The country was once considered one of the most advanced economies in Latin America but has since faced widespread shortages, hyperinflation, and social unrest. The exodus of over 7.7 million Venezuelans since 2014 has marked the largest migration in Latin America’s recent history.
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