Diplomatic efforts are underway to persuade Maduro to release Venezuela election vote tallies

Caracas Venezuela — Diplomatic efforts are being made to persuade President Nicolas Maduro release vote counts of The presidential elections of Venezuela, after opposition leaders disputed his claim of victory and amid growing calls for an independent review of the results, according to officials in Brazil and Mexico.

Government officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant communication with the Maduro administration to convince it that it should show the vote count records from Sunday’s elections and allow for impartial verification, a Brazilian government official told Reuters on Thursday. The Associated Press.

Officials have told Venezuela’s government that showing the data is the only way to dispel any doubts about the results, said the Brazilian official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the diplomatic efforts.

A Mexican official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the three governments have been discussing the issue with Venezuela but did not provide details. Earlier, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he planned to speak with President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, and that his government believes it is important that electoral counts be completed. make public.

Maduro asked Venezuela’s highest court on Wednesday perform an audit of the elections, but that request provoked almost immediate criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to conduct an independent review.

It was unclear whether Maduro’s first concession to demands for greater transparency was the result of talks with Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. The president of Venezuela confirmed during a press conference on Wednesday that he had spoken with Petro about it.

Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice is closely aligned with the Maduro government. The court’s justices are nominated by federal officials and ratified by the National Assembly, dominated by Maduro supporters.

Maduro’s main rival, Edmundo Gonzálezand opposition leader Maria Corina Machado They say they got more than two-thirds of the counting records that each electronic voting machine printed after the polls closed. They said that the publication of the data on those counts would show that Maduro is lost.

When asked why electoral authorities have not published detailed vote counts, Maduro said the National Electoral Council has been attacked, including cyberattacks, without providing further details.

The presidents of Colombia and Brazil, both close allies of the Venezuelan government, have urged Maduro to publish detailed vote counts.

The Brazilian official said diplomatic efforts are only aimed at promoting dialogue between Venezuelan stakeholders to negotiate a solution to the disputed elections. The official said this would include publishing voting data and allowing for independent verification.

López Obrador said that Mexico hopes that the will of the people of Venezuela is respected and that there is no violence. He added that Mexico waits “for the evidence, the minutes of electoral results, to be presented.”

Pressure on the president has been increasing since the election.

The National Electoral Council, loyal to Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has yet to release any results broken down by voting machine, as it did in past elections.

The electoral council reported that Maduro received 5.1 million votes, compared to more than 4.4 million for González. But Machado, the opposition leader, has said vote counts show González received about 6.2 million votes compared to 2.7 million for Maduro.

Venezuela has the The largest proven crude oil reserves in the world. and once boasted the most advanced economy in Latin America, but went into free fall after Maduro took command in 2013. Falling oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that exceeded 130,000% led to social unrest and mass emigration.

More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country. since 2014, the biggest exodus in the recent history of Latin America.

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Sá Pessoa reported from Sao Paulo. Associated Press correspondent María Verza contributed to this report from Mexico City.