MEXICO CITY (AP) – The leaders of Brazil and Colombia on Saturday again called on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to release voting tallies, days after the country’s Supreme Court backed the government’s disputed claims that it won elections in July.
In a joint statement, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the “credibility of the electoral process can only be restored through the transparent publication of disaggregated and verifiable data.”
The two leaders also warned against repression as the Venezuelan government has jailed thousands and met protests with violence.
The governments spoke a day after several other Latin American countries and the U.S. rejected the Venezuelan high court’s certification. Many were waiting to see how the two leftist leaders would respond to the court because both are close allies of Maduro and have been working to facilitate talks with both sides.
Maduro claims that he won the presidential vote, but so far has refused to release official tally sheets, considered the one verifiable vote count in Venezuela as they are almost impossible to replicate.
The main opposition coalition has accused Maduro of trying to steal the vote.
Opposition volunteers managed to collect copies of voting tallies from 80 per cent of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide that show former opposition candidate Edmundo González won by a more than 2-to-1 margin. The Supreme Court alleged those tallies were forged.
Lula and Petro said they “take note” of the court’s ruling, but added they are still awaiting release of the tallies.
The governments also called on actors in Venezuela to “avoid resorting to acts of violence and repression” as security forces arrested more than 2,000 people and cracked down on demonstrations that erupted spontaneously throughout the country protesting the results. But the two leaders didn’t directly accuse the Maduro government of carrying out the violence.
The arrests have again spread fear in a country that has seen other government crackdowns during previous times of political turmoil.
At the same time, key opposition figure Maria Corina Machado has since gone into hiding and the government said Friday it will order González to provide sworn testimony in an ongoing investigation, claiming he was part of an effort to spread panic by contesting the results of the election.
Both Lula and Petro have previously been criticised for what some say have been lenient policies toward Maduro’s government, but their tone has grown more stern in recent months, especially in the wake of the election fallout.
Their two countries are neighbors to Venezuela and their governments were to witness agreements struck between Maduro and the opposition that aimed to chart the path to free and fair elections, which the opposition and other observers accused Maduro of violating. The two leaders reiterated their willingness to facilitate dialogue between the government and the opposition.
“The political normalisation of Venezuela requires the recognition that there is no lasting alternative to peaceful dialogue and democratic coexistence,” the statement read.
