The US believes there is “irrefutable” evidence of Edmundo González’s victory

• American diplomat Brian Nichols said that the opposition politician defeated Nicolás Maduro “with millions of votes” of difference

The U.S. State Department official for Latin America, Brian Nichols, said on Wednesday, July 31, that there is “irrefutable” evidence to declare the victory of the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, in the presidential elections in Venezuela on July 28.

“With irrefutable evidence based on the voting records, which everyone can see, it is clear” that the opposition politician “defeated Nicolás Maduro by millions of votes” in advance, the diplomat told the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS).

The diplomat referred to the electoral records that the Venezuelan opposition has published on a website, where they indicate that 81% of these documents show that González Urrutia defeated President Nicolás Maduro by almost four million votes.

“This is not a projection. Even if Maduro wins 100% of the votes in the less than 20% of the ballots that remain to be published, he would not be able to overtake Gonzalez,” Nichols stressed.

The information provided by the anti-Chavez supporters on the web contradicts the version of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE), which declared victory to Maduro in the early hours of Monday with 51% of the votes.

The CNE, however, has not shown the total vote counts, something that has been demanded by both the opposition and the citizens in mass protests and by part of the international community.

In his speech, Nichols urged Maduro and other countries “in the world” to recognize González as the winner of the elections.

“Those who do not do so are allowing Maduro and his representatives to carry out a massive attempt at fraud and disregard for the rule of law,” the official stressed.

Nichols’ statements to the OAS represent a change in tone from Washington’s public stance on the Venezuelan elections.

This morning, the White House had already warned that it was “running out of patience” waiting for the Venezuelan authorities to publish the voting records that support Maduro’s victory declared by the CNE.

Security Council spokesman John Kirby also said they shared the conclusions published by the Carter Center, a US organization invited by Venezuela as an observer, which considered that Sunday’s elections were not democratic.

Nichols’ remarks, however, mark the first time Washington has backed opposition claims of a Gonzalez victory.

The UN, the European Union, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Argentina and Spain, among others, have asked the Venezuelan electoral authorities to publish the voting records to corroborate Maduro’s alleged victory, while thousands of people have taken to the streets of Venezuela to protest what they consider electoral fraud.

With information from EFE

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