The US government on Thursday recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González as the winner of the South American country's presidential election, discrediting the results announced by electoral authorities who declared President Nicolás Maduro the victor, the AP reports. "Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela's July 28 presidential election," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner of Sunday's highly anticipated election, but the president's main challenger, González, and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado have said they have proof Maduro lost. On Wednesday, Maduro asked Venezuela's highest court to conduct an audit of the election, but that request drew almost immediate criticism from foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to produce an independent review. On Thursday, the court accepted Maduro's request for an audit and ordered him, González, and the eight other candidates who participated in the presidential election to appear before the justices Friday.
Government officials from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico have been in constant communication with Maduro's administration to convince him that he must show the vote tally sheets from Sunday's election and allow impartial verification, officials from Brazil and Mexico, speaking anonymously, told the AP Thursday. Later Thursday, the governments of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico issued a joint statement calling on Venezuela's electoral authorities "to move forward expeditiously and publicly release" detailed voting data, but they did not confirm any backroom diplomatic efforts to persuade Maduro's government to publish the vote tallies.
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