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Leaders of seven European Union countries on Saturday called on Venezuela to publish its voting records to show “full transparency and integrity of the electoral process.”
France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain issued a statement expressing “strong concern” about the situation after the country’s presidential election.
President Nicolas Maduro declared victory in last weekend’s election, but the opposition challenged the official results, claiming Edmundo González Urrutia won.
“We call on the Venezuelan authorities to promptly release all voting records,” the G7 leaders said in a statement.
It added that the move was necessary to “recognize the will of the Venezuelan people.”
“In this process, the rights of all Venezuelans, especially political leaders, must be respected.
“We strongly condemn any arrests or threats against them,” it added, saying authorities should respect people’s “right to peacefully protest and assemble.”
The outcome has been rejected by the United States and its Latin American neighbors Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador and Uruguay.
They said the available results showed opposition candidate González Urrutia as the clear winner.
The government has ordered the expulsion of diplomats from some countries that questioned Maduro’s election victory. Argentine diplomats arriving in Buenos Aires on Saturday said power had been cut at their embassy and masked police were standing guard outside.
The opposition has launched a website containing copies of 84% of the ballots, which the government claims are forged, showing González Urrutia winning comfortably.
Eleven civilians were reported dead and more than 1,000 people were arrested in protests that broke out after the National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro, announced on Friday that Maduro had won the election with 52% of the vote, defeating Gonzalez Urrutia. Officials said one soldier also died.
Maduro, 61, has reacted fiercely to widespread international criticism, describing allegations of electoral fraud as a “trap” orchestrated by Washington for a “coup.”
Thousands protested
Thousands of people gathered across Venezuela on Saturday to protest against the disputed re-election of Nicolas Maduro, led by a top opposition figure, with his supporters heeding the call of his own competing rallies.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado delighted supporters in Caracas when she unexpectedly appeared after days in hiding on a truck draped with a banner that read “Venezuela wins!”
As her truck passed by on Saturday, supporters chanted “Freedom!”
“We have never been stronger than we are today,” Machado told the crowd, adding that “the regime has never been weaker… It has lost all legitimacy.”
Maduro also called on his supporters to attend the “Mother of Marches” later in the afternoon. He accused the opposition of planning attacks on security forces during the rally.
Maduro has led the oil-rich, cash-poor country since 2013, a rule that has seen Venezuela’s GDP fall 80 percent and led to the emigration of more than 7 million of its once-affluent 30 million citizens.
Experts blame the collapse on economic mismanagement and US sanctions.
‘Fearing for my life’
Machado, who was barred from running herself, wrote in the Wall Street Journal that she, like other opposition leaders, was in hiding and “fearing for her life.”
“We have deaths, wounded, detained, missing people… People know this. They are scared,” Katiuska Camargo, an activist in the Petare slum in eastern Caracas, said on Saturday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday there was “overwhelming evidence” that González Urrutia won the election.
The U.S. State Department said Blinken spoke with Machado and González Urrutia on Friday, expressing “concern for their safety and well-being” and congratulating González Urrutia on “receiving the most votes.”
Maduro was re-elected president in 2018 but was rejected by dozens of Latin American countries as well as the United States and European Union member states.
He has won the loyalty of the military leadership, electoral bodies, courts and other state institutions, and has the support of Russia, China and Cuba.
(Editing by Georgi Gotev)
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