- Biden and Lula demand election data
Following the presidential election in Venezuela, which was overshadowed by allegations of fraud, the heads of state of the two most populous countries in the Americas are calling for transparency. U.S. President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva agreed that Venezuela's electoral commission must publish the detailed results from each polling station, the White House said after a phone call between the two leaders.
After Sunday's presidential election, the National Electoral Council declared authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro the winner, having been in power since 2013. However, the election board has not yet released the breakdown of results from the voting districts. The opposition accused the government of election rigging and insists that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, received the most votes in all states. The U.S., the EU, the Organization of American States, and several Latin American countries also doubt the official election results.
The opposition claims to have access to 75 percent of the detailed election results, which show González with 68 percent of the votes and Maduro with 29 percent. Opposition leader María Corina Machado said at a demonstration in the capital, Caracas, that she would not negotiate about the results, but only about a peaceful transfer of power with the government.
In light of the tense situation, Costa Rica's government offered asylum to both Machado and González, as well as other Venezuelan political refugees. Machado thanked them but said she plans to stay in her home country for now. "It is my responsibility to continue the fight alongside the people," she wrote on X.
The European Parliament can provide assistance to the Commission in advocating for transparency and the publication of detailed election results from each polling station in Venezuela, as seen in the case of the United States and Brazil. Without the breakdown of results from the voting districts, it's challenging for international bodies and the opposition to validate the election's credibility in Venezuela.
