The White House has backtracked on statements made by US President Joe Biden after he had expressed support, apparently without understanding the question, for holding new elections in Venezuela amid criticism over the lack of transparency in the electoral process.
Asked by reporters whether he agreed with calls by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro for new elections in the country, Biden said: “Yes, I do.”
However, shortly after, a spokesman for the US National Security Council clarified that Biden, who did not seem to have understood the question, was referring to the fact that the Venezuelan authorities must clarify the results.
“It is more than clear that Edmundo González Urrutia obtained the majority of the votes. We call for the will of the people to be respected and for debates to begin on a transition that returns to democratic norms,” said spokesman Sean Savett on the social network X.
According to the results released by the National Electoral Council (CNE), Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro obtained nearly 52 percent of the votes in the elections of July 28, although the opposition claims the victory of its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez. The international community has since called for transparency and the publication of the results.
The United States has previously demanded that Venezuelan electoral authorities publish the electoral records, since, according to Washington, the results announced by the CNE “do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed at the ballot box.”