The top US diplomat for Latin America said Wednesday, July 31, that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had overwhelmingly lost to opponent Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, endorsing vote tallies released by the opposition as Venezuela's electoral authority fails to release detailed results.
"Why haven't they?" asked US Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols in remarks at an Organization of American States (OAS) meeting. "The answer appears to be clear, either they know the real results prove that Edmundo Gonzalez clearly won the election, so they don't want to share the results – or they know that the real results prove that Edmundo Gonzalez clearly won the election and Maduro's Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) needs time to prepare falsified results to back their false assertion."
The opposition meanwhile has published online tens of thousands of polling result papers, known as "actas." "These are real Venezuelan votes," Nichols said. "The tabulation of these detailed results clearly show an irrefutable result: Edmundo Gonzalez won with 67 percent of these votes compared to 30 percent for Maduro."
While recognizing there are still outstanding results, Nichols said "there are not enough votes in remaining tally sheets... to overcome such a deficit." "With the irrefutable evidence based on the actas everyone can see, it is clear that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia defeated Nicolas Maduro by millions of votes."
Maduro, 61, has been at the helm of the once-wealthy oil-rich country since 2013, presiding over a GDP drop of 80 percent that pushed more than 7 million of Venezuela's 30 million citizens to emigrate, many to the United States.
Facing mounting pressure to offer evidence his election victory was valid, Maduro said Wednesday, July 31, that opposition leaders Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia should be imprisoned following deadly protests across the country. "They should be behind bars," the leader told reporters. The opposition, which claims its candidate Gonzalez Urrutia was the rightful victor, said 16 people were killed in protests that erupted after Sunday's election in the Latin American country.