US calls for “access for all parties” to vote counting in Venezuela

Electoral authorities must “guarantee transparency and access by all political parties and civil society to the counting of votes” in Venezuelasaid the head of diplomacy of USA for Latin America, Brian Nichols.

“Venezuelan voters turned out in droves to express their will,” Nichols added in a message on social media network X, in which he also called for “the prompt publication of the results.”

“The credibility of the electoral process depends on it,” insists the senior official of the State Department, at the end of a day in which the presidentNicolas Maduro, 61 years old, the continuity of Chavismo is at stake against the opposition.

The United States thus joins the foreign ministers of nine Latin American countries calling for electoral guarantees.

“We consider it essential to have guarantees that the election results will fully respect the popular will expressed by the Venezuelan people at the polls,” said the foreign ministers of Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay in a joint statement.

Voting ended at 22:00 GMT and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado called on her supporters to remain at the polling stations to monitor the counting.

Machado could not run in the elections due to political disqualification, but he represents her Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiaa 74-year-old career diplomat.

The pro-government National Electoral Council (CNE) is waiting until there is an irreversible trend to announce the results of the process, which is automated.

Maduro promised to recognize and defend the results released by the electoral body.

“I recognize and will recognize the electoral referee, the official bulletins and I will ensure that they are respected,” he said on Sunday. Days earlier he warned that an opposition victory could trigger a “bloodbath.”