Dictator Nicolás Maduro and the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela, the Chavista Elvis Amoroso| Photo: EFE/Ronald Peña R.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said on Friday (6) that Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), controlled by Chavismo, has the same data presented by the opposition on a website that proves Edmundo González Urrutia’s victory in the presidential elections on July 28.
According to information from the Venezuelan newspaper The NationalNichols stated on his X account that “the Venezuelan democratic opposition has shared with the entire world the evidence of vote gerrymandering. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected.”
“The National Electoral Council has the same data that shows Edmundo got the most votes on July 28,” Nichols wrote in a post that was reported by the newspaper. The CNE did not present the electoral records that prove its result, which gave the victory to the dictator Maduro in the elections. The result of the body was nevertheless ratified by the country’s Supreme Court, led by a Chavista, which placed the documents under seal.
Nichols’ statement comes amid growing political repression in Venezuela, where the Nicolás Maduro regime has intensified repression against opponents and even issued an arrest warrant for González, who ran in the July election for the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), the largest opposition coalition to Chavismo.
The US does not recognize Maduro’s victory and has already stated that the opponent was the one who actually won the election. According to El Nacional, Nichols said this week that González Urrutia has promoted “national reconciliation” and that the US rejects the arrest warrant issued against him.