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Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who claims to be the rightful winner of the country’s presidential election, on Wednesday ignored a Supreme Court subpoena over disputed election results.
Electoral authorities declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the July 28 election without releasing detailed results, sparking an outcry from the opposition and sparking protests last week that left at least 24 people dead, according to human rights groups.
Several countries, including the United States and several Latin American nations, have recognized González Urrutia’s victory and demanded that Venezuela release election data.
Maduro called for González Urrutia and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to be jailed and for the matter to be taken to the Supreme Court to “affirm” his victory.
Electoral authorities said they had handed over the election data to the court – both institutions are widely seen as loyal to Maduro’s government.
Gonzalez Urrutia, 74, was summoned to appear in court Wednesday morning and expressed doubts about the fairness of the trial process.
“Not only would I be jeopardizing my freedom, but more importantly, I would be jeopardizing the will of the Venezuelan people expressed on July 28,” he said on social media.
He said Maduro had said, “If I don’t come forward, I will be held legally responsible, and if I come forward and submit a copy (of the voting records), I will also be held criminally responsible.”
Court President Caryslia Rodriguez noted that he “failed to comply with the subpoena”.
– Poll results a mystery –
Other opposition coalition representatives were also present, such as Zulia state governor Manuel Rosales, who asked electoral authorities to “publish the final results.”
The opposition has launched a website containing copies of 84% of the ballots, which the government claims are forged, showing Gonzalez Urrutia winning easily.
“Eleven days after the election, no party knows what the result of the vote is,” said Simón Calzadilla, a member of the Movement for Venezuela (MPV) party, which also supports González Urrutia.
He also challenged the court’s jurisdiction to certify the election results.
Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken reiterated González Urrutia’s claim of winning the election in a phone call with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday, according to State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
Miller said the two “expressed concern for the safety and well-being of opposition leaders following the elections and condemned political violence and repression, indiscriminate arrests and violations of due process of law.”
The Carter Center, an American non-governmental organization responsible for observing the election, said it had confirmed González Urrutia’s victory after analyzing existing data from polling stations.
In an interview with AFP, the head of the organization’s Venezuela delegation, Jenny Lincoln, also denied that Venezuela’s electoral system was attacked by cyber attacks during the voting.
– ‘No one will back down here’ –
The Supreme Court, which summoned all the candidates, said it would take at least 15 days to decide.
González Urrutia, a retired diplomat, was little known until he agreed at the last minute to replace the popular Machado as the opposition candidate after Machado was barred from running.
Machado has also been in hiding, saying she “fears” for her life, making only a brief appearance during a massive opposition protest on Saturday.
In an interview with local media on Wednesday, she said the opposition would continue to “advance” despite Maduro’s “very massive” crackdown.
“No one is backing down here, and morale is not low,” Machado said. “Rather, we are committed to completing the next steps and increasing the pressure.”
Maduro announced that more than 2,000 people have been arrested since the election. Two soldiers were killed in the protests.
Maduro has led the oil-rich country since 2013 and has seen gross domestic product fall 80 percent during his rule, leading to the emigration of more than 7 million of the once-affluent Venezuela’s 30 million citizens.
He has been accused of jailing critics and harassing opponents amid rising authoritarianism.
Maduro was re-elected president in 2018 but was opposed by dozens of Latin American and other countries, including the United States and European Union members, who called his candidacy a sham.
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