WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have expressed concerns for the safety of Venezuelan opposition leaders after the disputed presidential election.
In a telephone call, they expressed their readiness to support an inclusive, Venezuelan-led process toward the re-establishment of democratic norms, in coordination with international partners, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a press release.
Blinken noted that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia received the most votes in the July 28 election, adding that 'the actas provided overwhelming evidence' to show that Gonzalez defeated incumbent president Nicolas Maduro.
Actas are physical tally sheets, which are being stored by the opposition secretly to evade a government crackdown.
The U.S. State Secretary and the UN chief condemned the political violence and repression, indiscriminate arrests, and violation of due process in Venezuela.
The state-controlled National Electoral Council's announcement declaring Maduro as the winner triggered nation-wide protests.
The opposition Democratic Unitary Platform has published more than 80 percent of the tally sheets received directly from polling stations throughout Venezuela, indicating that its candidate won the most votes in the election by a big margin. Independent observers have corroborated these facts, and this outcome was also supported by Election Day exit polls and quick counts.
Opposition leaders, including Urrutia and Democratic Unitary Platform leader María Corina Machado, are under threats of being arrested.
Machado published a letter in The Wall Street Journal last week, stating that she had gone in to hiding 'fearing for my life, my freedom, and that of my fellow countrymen from the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro'.
The Venezuelan attorney general, a close ally of the President, has announced he is investigating Machado and Urrutia for alleged 'incitement to insurrection'.
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