U.S. Assistant Secretary of State For Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols on Wednesday urged Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro and foreign governments to acknowledge Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of Sunday’s election.
Speaking at a meeting of the Organization of American States, Nichols said that the reason Venezuela’s electoral authority (CNE) had not yet provided detailed results of the vote was either because it did not want to show Gonzalez’s victory or because it needed time to falsify the results.
The CNE has declared Maduro the winner of the election, a result that has been derided as implausible by the opposition, independent pollsters and many foreign governments.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland)