Blinken urges Venezuela’s Maduro to meet with opposition, discuss disputed election

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U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to talk with the opposition about the country's disputed presidential election.

Such engagement must lead to "a peaceful return to democracy," Blinken said on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. "The United States and its partners stand fully ready to support this process."

Maduro claimed victory in Venezuela's July 28 election over opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.

Venezuela's electoral authority, which declared Maduro the winner of the vote within hours of the polls closing, reported that the president won more than half the votes, without publishing any results.

Maduro remains in power, and his claim to a third six-year term was backed by the Supreme Court, which includes Maduro loyalists.

The opposition, however, contends Gonzalez won the election in a landslide. It backed its claims with voting tallies it said had been gathered from 80% of the country's 30,000 voting booths showing that Gonzalez won by a ratio of more than 2 to 1.

"After Venezuelans turned out to vote in historic numbers, the regime refused to release detailed electoral tallies," Blinken said. "It tampered with election results. It falsely declared Maduro the winner. It cracked down brutally on peaceful protesters, political opponents. It unjustly issued a warrant for the arrest of the opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez."

Gonzalez sought asylum in Spain earlier this month after Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for him, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes.

Blinken said there has been extensive and impartial documentation of Maduro's repressive actions by nongovernmental organizations, human rights groups, journalists, citizens and others.

"We come here united in the commitment to defend the human rights of the Venezuelan people and committed to bring about an inclusive, Venezuelan-led effort to restore the nation's democratic future," Blinken said.

Some information for this report came from Reuters and Agence France-Presse.

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