Maduro promises voting details as observers say Venezuela’s election ‘not democratic’

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has insisted his party is ready to present vote tallies in his country’s disputed election after election observers said it “cannot be considered democratic”.

The National Electoral Council’s (CNE) announcement that Mr Maduro had won sparked two days of protests, with the country’s opposition party saying polling figures showed the candidate, Edmundo González, had won by a landslide.

Non-governmental organizations say that at least 11 people have died in the violence related to the protests and many others have been injured.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr Maduro also said his government’s reason for not publishing the results of the election was due to “hacking” of the electoral council’s website.

He also said that he “has proof” that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is behind the violence.

He pointed out that the protesters were “attacking” the constitution and asked the Supreme Court to take action, which could pave the way for the arrest of a large number of dissidents or protesters.

America’s top official in Latin America, Brian Nichols, said the evidence shows that President Maduro lost “millions” of votes – confirming the vote figures released by his opponents.

“The extension of these detailed results clearly shows the undisputed result: Edmundo Gonzalez won with 67% of the votes compared to Maduro’s 30%,” he said in comments at the meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), reports AFP.

“While not a perfect result, there are not enough votes on the remaining tally sheets… to close that deficit,” he continued.

Earlier on Wednesday the US-based Carter Center – which was invited by Venezuelan officials to monitor Sunday’s presidential poll – said it would not “confirm or confirm the results of the elections announced by the CNE”.

The Carter Center also said that the CNE’s failure to announce detailed results by polling station “represents a serious violation of electoral principles”.

It added that the CNE “showed a clear bias in favor of the incumbent [President Nicolás Maduro]”and accused the CNE of “a complete lack of transparency in announcing the results”.

The opposition said they received most of the receipts from the voting machines proving that they won the election with 70% of the votes.

With its statement, the Carter Center joined a long list of countries and organizations pressuring the CNE to release detailed voting data at the polling station level, among them the US, Brazil and the EU.

The US State Department said the international community is impatient to wait for Venezuela’s electoral authorities to release full details about their country’s elections.

The Carter Center’s statement is an embarrassment to the Maduro government because its observers have praised Venezuela’s electoral system in the past.

President Maduro often quotes the words of the founder of the Carter Center, former US President Jimmy Carter, who said in 2012 that “of the 92 elections we have observed, I can say that the electoral system of Venezuela is the best in the world.” .

More than 1,000 people have been arrested, according to Venezuela’s attorney general, who also said two members of the security forces died in the protest.

Mrs. Machado urged her followers to live in peace even if they are provoked by the government and its allies.

On Tuesday, a close ally of President Maduro, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez, called for the arrest of Ms Machado and Mr González, accusing them of leading a “fascist conspiracy”.

President Maduro told the media on Wednesday that Ms Machado and Mr González “should be imprisoned,” AFP reported.

Costa Rica’s foreign minister later granted Ms Machado and Mr González political asylum, saying his government had been “informed of the arrest warrants” for the pair.

Ms. Machado thanked the Costa Rican government but said “it is his responsibility to continue this struggle with the people”.

In another social media post on Wednesday night, Ms Machado urged her followers to “unite”.

He wrote on X: “It’s time to trust each other. To stay active and strong.

“It took time to win; now it’s time to collect.”