CARACAS.- Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro has launched a new verbal offensive against the United States, demanding that it “get its nose out” of the country’s internal affairs. This statement came after Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate winner of last Sunday’s presidential elections.
“The United States is saying that Venezuela has a different president. The United States should get its nose out of Venezuela, because the sovereign people are the ones who rule in Venezuela, who appoint, who elect,” Maduro said during a political event in Caracas.
Despite accusations of electoral fraud by the opposition, the National Electoral Council (CNE) (allied to the regime) proclaimed Maduro the winner with more than 51% of the votes, compared to Gonzalez with 44.2%. So far, the electoral body has not released the full details of the vote count, a constant demand of the opposition that remains unmet.
The Venezuelan opposition showed the voting records and said that with 80% of the results it can confirm that Edmundo González Urrutia is the elected president of Venezuela. To show this to the world and to Venezuelans, the united platform has sought various ways to make public the records it has in its hands, since every time it publishes a new link, the page is attacked and taken down from the servers.
Maduro’s verbal attack appears to be an attempt to divert attention from growing internal and external criticism of the legitimacy of his re-election. Meanwhile, the dictator, who has seen his popularity plummet amid a deep economic and social crisis, took advantage of the occasion to present himself as a defender of Venezuelan sovereignty.
Despite his confrontational rhetoric, Maduro also declared himself willing to “resume dialogue” with Washington on social media, a stance that seems contradictory given his habitual denunciation of US intervention in Venezuelan affairs.
US recognizes Gonzalez as president
The US Secretary of State said the vote-counting process and the declaration of results by the CNE, which is under Maduro’s control, were “deeply flawed.” This, according to Blinken, led to a result that does not reflect the true will of the Venezuelan people.
On the other hand, the Secretary of State stressed that the “democratic” opposition made public more than 80% of the voting centre records, which show that González obtained the majority of the votes by a considerable margin. He also emphasised that independent observers and exit polls have corroborated these figures.
Maduro’s remarks come at a critical time for Venezuela, where the international community and the opposition continue to question the transparency of the electoral process and the legitimacy of the regime. The U.S. intervention, while controversial, reflects international support for efforts to restore democracy in Venezuela.
Source: With information from AFP and Europa Press
