The US said Thursday that Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez is the clear winner of the South American country's presidential election.
"Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela's July 28 presidential election," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
"In addition, the United States rejects (current President Nicolas) Maduro's unsubstantiated allegations against opposition leaders. Maduro and his representatives' threats to arrest opposition leaders, including Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado, are an undemocratic attempt to repress political participation and retain power," he added.
Blinken said he congratulates Gonzalez on his "successful campaign," adding it is time for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a "respectful, peaceful transition."
"We fully support the process of re-establishing democratic norms in Venezuela and stand ready to consider ways to bolster it jointly with our international partners," he added.
He said the processing of the votes and announcement of the results by the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) were "deeply flawed," adding the announced outcome "does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people."
Earlier this week, the US called for the full and transparent release of Venezuela's election results.
According to the CNE, Maduro, 61, secured 51% of the vote against 44% by 74-year-old Gonzalez. The results, however, have been disputed by the opposition.
Blinken said the CNE still has not published the data or any of the vote tally sheets while the democratic opposition has published more than 80% of the tally sheets from polling stations throughout Venezuela.
"Those tally sheets indicate that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received the most votes in this election by an insurmountable margin," he said. "Independent observers have corroborated these facts, and this outcome was also supported by election day exit polls and quick counts."
