Pressure is mounting on beleaguered Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says there is “overwhelming evidence” that the opposition won the recent presidential election.
This comes as the presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia have all called on Venezuela to release the full details of last Sunday’s election, according to the BBC.
In a statement Blinken said it was clear Edmundo González, had won the most votes, despite the Sunday announcement by the country’s electoral council, which is government-controlled, that Maduro had won the election for a third term.
Blinken said: “Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s 28 July presidential election.”
Meanwhile, Venezuelan security forces have cracked down hard on widespread protests. The BBC reports that the Venezuelan government says more than 1,000 people have been arrested. It also reports that human rights group Foro Penal have verified and identified 711 people who have been detained and 11 people who have died since 29 July, when protests began.
[Image: U.S. Institute of Peace, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=121237712]