Venezuelan opposition leader thanks US for recognition as protests flare across country

Protests against President Nicolás Maduro flared across Venezuela Saturday, as opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia thanked the US for acknowledging his win in last week’s elections.

The US joined Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in rejecting the official election results that purportedly had Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, as the winner.

“We thank the United States for recognizing the will of the Venezuelan people reflected in our electoral victory and for supporting the process of restoring democratic norms in Venezuela,” González Urrutia wrote on X.

González Urrutia and Maduro both claimed victory in the July 28 vote.

The Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council’s vote tally determined the incumbent nabbed 51% of the vote at the July 28 election, but the US found no evidence supporting the claim.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday those results were “deeply flawed” and not representative of the “will of the Venezuelan people,” in a statement released by the State Department.

Indeed, the US found “overwhelming evidence” that González “won the most votes in the election by an insurmountable margin,” Blinken said.

The opposition claims it has tally sheets from the polls that show González received roughly 6.2 million votes to Maduro’s 2.7 million.

The election controversy has sparked protests and violence in Venezuela since Monday, and thousands again took to the streets Saturday in cities across Venezuela and in neighboring Colombia.

Supporters also demonstrated in Miami and Tampa, Florida and in front of the White House in Washington, DC.

Washington is considering fresh sanctions on Venezuela following the disputed election results.

With Post Wires