SAO PAULO (AP) 鈥� Venezuela鈥檚 opposition was dealt a blow Thursday when countries that had been pressuring President Nicol谩s Maduro to release vote tallies backing his claim to victory in last month鈥檚 presidential election began suggesting a repeat of the contest instead.
The proposal from the leftist governments of Brazil and Colombia, both Maduro allies, came less than three weeks after the results of the highly anticipated election came into question when the main opposition coalition revealed it has proof that its candidate defeated the president by a more than 2-to-1 margin.
The opposition categorically rejected any plan to redo the election.
Venezuelan opposition leader Mar铆a Corina Machado, during a virtual news conference with Argentine media, said that repeating the July 28 presidential election would be 鈥渁n insult鈥� to the people, and she asked if a second election were held and Maduro still didn鈥檛 accept the results, 鈥渄o we go for a third one?鈥�
In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden expressed support for new elections in comments to reporters that the White House later appeared to back away from.
Venezuela's National Electoral Council, whose members are loyal to the ruling party, declared Maduro the winner hours after polls closed. But unlike previous presidential elections, the electoral body has not released detailed voting data to back up its claim that Maduro earned 6.4 million votes while Edmundo Gonz谩lez, who represented the Unitary Platform opposition coalition, garnered 5.3 million.
Meanwhile, Gonz谩lez and Machado stunned Venezuelans when they revealed issued by every electronic voting machine after polls closed, that they said showed Gonz谩lez winning by a wide margin.
Their revelation prompted governments around the world, including Colombia, Brazil and the U.S., to call on Maduro and the electoral council the publish a breakdown of results.
The opposition has consistently expressed the need for the international community鈥檚 help to get Maduro to accept the unfavorable results of the election.
Unlike many other nations as the winner, the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have taken a more neutral stance by neither rejecting nor accepting it when at the ballot box. The three countries have called on Venezuela鈥檚 electoral body to release tens of thousands of vote tally sheets, considered the ultimate proof of results.
On Thursday, Brazilian President Luiz In谩cio Lula da Silva said that still doesn鈥檛 recognize Nicol谩s Maduro as the winner of the election and that his counterpart should call for a new vote. Colombian President Gustavo Petro later echoed the call for a new election.
鈥淢aduro still has six months left in his term," Lula said in an interview with Radio T. 鈥淗e is the president regardless of the election. If he has good sense, he could call upon the people of Venezuela, perhaps even call for new elections, create an electoral committee and allow observers from around the world to monitor.鈥�
Brazil is by far South America鈥檚 largest nation and shares one of Venezuela鈥檚 longest land borders. Under Lula, the country has been an important mediator, including in October, when Maduro鈥檚 government and the opposition reached an agreement to work toward conditions for a free and fair presidential election to be held in the second half of 2024. That agreement triggered relief from U.S. sanctions.
But Maduro鈥檚 government continuously tested the limits of the agreement over several months, and the U.S. reimposed the sanctions it had lifted on the oil, gas and mining sectors.
Venezuelan law allows for another vote whenever the National Electoral Council or judicial authorities annul an election found to be fraudulent or whose outcome was impossible to determine. The new election would have to take place within six to 12 months under the same conditions as the annulled vote and the same candidates must appear on the ballot.
Logistics, laws and costs aside, a new election would be a as July鈥檚 vote and subsequent protests showed they have lost support across the country and can no longer bank on a cadre of die-hard supporters, known as 鈥淐havistas,鈥� as well as public employees and others whose businesses or employment depend on the state to comfortably beat opponents.
In contrast to the stance of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, the U.S. government has said that the evidence is clear that Gonz谩lez won the election.
However, when Biden was asked Thursday in Washington whether he would support new elections in Venezuela, the president said 鈥淚 do.鈥� Biden did not elaborate.
A White House National Security Official who was not authorized to comment publicly later told The Associated Press that Biden was speaking to the 鈥渁bsurdity of Maduro and his representatives not coming clean about the July 28 elections." The official added that it is 鈥渁bundantly clear鈥� to the majority of Venezuelan people, the U.S., and other governments that Gonz谩lez won the most votes in last month鈥檚 election.
An AP review of the tally sheets released by the opposition indicates that Gonz谩lez won significantly more votes than the government has claimed. The analysis casts serious doubt on the official declaration that Maduro won.
The AP processed almost 24,000 images representing the results from 79% of voting machines, resulting in tabulations of 10.26 million votes. The processed tally sheets also showed Gonz谩lez receiving more votes on 20,476 receipts compared to only 3,157 for Maduro.
Petro on Thursday floated several ideas to address Venezuela's political crisis including 鈥嬧�嬧�渘ew free elections" and the establishment of a transitional government. The later had already been rejected by Machado at a news conference on Tuesday.
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Garcia Cano reported from Mexico City. Associated Press writers Joshua Goodman in Miami, and Aamer Madhani and AP White House Correspondent Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.
Regina Garcia Cano And Gabriela S谩 Pessoa, The Associated Press
