The Fort Worth Press - Brazil, Colombia urge new Venezuela vote, as opposition cries foul

USD -
AED 3.673035
AFN 71.323752
ALL 89.53094
AMD 391.220403
ANG 1.790208
AOA 916.000367
ARS 1072.780296
AUD 1.655081
AWG 1.8
AZN 1.70397
BAM 1.766685
BBD 2.011533
BDT 121.061023
BGN 1.786617
BHD 0.376648
BIF 2961.474188
BMD 1
BND 1.332099
BOB 6.885493
BRL 5.844604
BSD 0.996193
BTN 84.992526
BWP 13.874477
BYN 3.260694
BYR 19600
BZD 2.001147
CAD 1.42285
CDF 2873.000362
CHF 0.861312
CLF 0.025108
CLP 963.503912
CNY 7.28155
CNH 7.295041
COP 4213.53
CRC 503.907996
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 99.605696
CZK 23.045604
DJF 177.720393
DKK 6.808204
DOP 62.907224
DZD 133.33904
EGP 50.555986
ERN 15
ETB 131.300523
EUR 0.91245
FJD 2.314904
FKP 0.762682
GBP 0.776096
GEL 2.750391
GGP 0.762682
GHS 15.444933
GIP 0.762682
GMD 71.503851
GNF 8622.916761
GTQ 7.690049
GYD 208.470909
HKD 7.77465
HNL 25.487566
HRK 6.871704
HTG 130.352909
HUF 370.410388
IDR 16745
ILS 3.74336
IMP 0.762682
INR 85.53285
IQD 1305.312033
IRR 42100.000352
ISK 132.170386
JEP 0.762682
JMD 157.104991
JOD 0.708904
JPY 146.97504
KES 129.250385
KGS 86.768804
KHR 3988.349252
KMF 450.503794
KPW 899.928114
KRW 1459.510383
KWD 0.30779
KYD 0.830341
KZT 505.20544
LAK 21581.388627
LBP 89275.06515
LKR 295.434118
LRD 199.25846
LSL 18.999968
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.818396
MAD 9.490092
MDL 17.606012
MGA 4619.406928
MKD 56.151733
MMK 2099.545327
MNT 3504.730669
MOP 7.976641
MRU 39.72565
MUR 44.670378
MVR 15.403739
MWK 1727.378227
MXN 20.436704
MYR 4.437039
MZN 63.910377
NAD 19.000827
NGN 1532.820377
NIO 36.665011
NOK 10.768404
NPR 135.979445
NZD 1.786991
OMR 0.384721
PAB 0.996508
PEN 3.661278
PGK 4.111636
PHP 57.385038
PKR 279.668989
PLN 3.890384
PYG 7986.705382
QAR 3.6322
RON 4.542038
RSD 106.939038
RUB 84.443694
RWF 1435.583432
SAR 3.752392
SBD 8.316332
SCR 14.340707
SDG 600.503676
SEK 9.992304
SGD 1.345704
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.750371
SLL 20969.501083
SOS 569.320455
SRD 36.646504
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.718942
SYP 13001.416834
SZL 19.003238
THB 34.403649
TJS 10.84572
TMT 3.5
TND 3.051269
TOP 2.342104
TRY 37.993904
TTD 6.749683
TWD 33.177504
TZS 2690.000335
UAH 41.00191
UGX 3642.391584
UYU 42.149384
UZS 12873.912081
VES 70.161515
VND 25805
VUV 123.606268
WST 2.823884
XAF 592.401234
XAG 0.033794
XAU 0.000329
XCD 2.70255
XDR 0.736757
XOF 592.438686
XPF 107.728231
YER 245.650363
ZAR 19.124415
ZMK 9001.203587
ZMW 27.620652
ZWL 321.999592
  • RBGPF

    1.0200

    69.02

    +1.48%

  • RELX

    -3.2800

    48.16

    -6.81%

  • NGG

    -3.4600

    65.93

    -5.25%

  • GSK

    -2.4800

    36.53

    -6.79%

  • SCS

    -0.0600

    10.68

    -0.56%

  • JRI

    -0.8600

    11.96

    -7.19%

  • BCC

    0.8100

    95.44

    +0.85%

  • CMSC

    0.0300

    22.29

    +0.13%

  • AZN

    -5.4600

    68.46

    -7.98%

  • RYCEF

    -1.5500

    8.25

    -18.79%

  • RIO

    -3.7600

    54.67

    -6.88%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    22.71

    +0.22%

  • VOD

    -0.8700

    8.5

    -10.24%

  • BTI

    -2.0600

    39.86

    -5.17%

  • CMSD

    0.1600

    22.83

    +0.7%

  • BP

    -2.9600

    28.38

    -10.43%

Brazil, Colombia urge new Venezuela vote, as opposition cries foul
Brazil, Colombia urge new Venezuela vote, as opposition cries foul / Photo: © AFP/File

Brazil, Colombia urge new Venezuela vote, as opposition cries foul

The presidents of Brazil and Colombia called Thursday for fresh elections in Venezuela after last month's disputed victory by Nicolas Maduro -- a proposal quickly rejected by the opposition, who slammed the strongman for blocking a "political transition."

Text size:

The two South American leaders, who spoke on the phone Wednesday to discuss a possible political way forward from Venezuela's post-election crisis, independently urged Maduro to consider a new election.

But Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said it would show "a lack of respect" for the popular will already expressed on July 28.

And opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old retired diplomat who claims he defeated Maduro by a wide margin, accused the longtime leftist leader of "playing with the lives of millions" by refusing to cede defeat.

"The country's economy is getting worse and worse with each passing day with no political solution in sight, and you are responsible for this tragedy," Gonzalez Urrutia said in a video posted to social media on Thursday.

"Venezuela deserves a future of stability, prosperity and peace, but in order to have that, the will of the people must be respected."

For his part, Maduro, while not directly mentioning a new election, said: "Conflicts in Venezuela... are resolved by Venezuelans, with their institutions, laws and Constitution."

- 'Sensible' -

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said if Maduro were "sensible... he could try to appeal to the people of Venezuela, perhaps even organize elections."

Lula told a Brazilian radio station there should be "criteria for participation of all candidates" in a new election, which should "allow observers from all over the world."

Colombian President Gustavo Petro meanwhile called on X for the lifting of all sanctions against Caracas, a "general national and international amnesty," "new, free elections" and a "transitional cohabitation government."

In Washington, US President Joe Biden signalled he would back such a move, but the White House walked back his comment, with a spokesman suggesting Biden had been "speaking to the absurdity of Maduro and his representatives not coming clean about the July 28 elections."

It is "abundantly clear" that Gonzalez Urrutia won, the US spokesman said.

When asked about statements made by foreign leaders, Maduro said: "We're not going to conduct diplomacy at microphones. Every president, every country knows how to manage domestic affairs."

- 'Still managed to win' -

Machado, who was barred from seeking election by Maduro-friendly state institutions, told a virtual press conference Thursday that Venezuelans had voted "in very adverse conditions where there was fraud and we still managed to win."

The country's CNE electoral council proclaimed Maduro the winner of a third, six-year term, giving him 52 percent of votes cast but without providing a detailed breakdown of the results.

The opposition says polling station-level results show Gonzalez Urrutia won easily.

Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado have been in hiding since the president accused them of seeking to foment a "coup d'etat" and called for the pair for be jailed.

Maduro's victory claim has been rejected by the United States, European Union and several Latin American countries.

The Organization of American States will meet Friday at Washington's request to consider a resolution that would call on the CNE to publish detailed election results and allow independent verification of that data.

Anti-Maduro protests have claimed 25 lives so far, with dozens injured and more than 2,400 arrested.

- Legislative offensive -

Maduro has previously rejected the possibility of new elections and asked the country's highest court, also viewed as loyal to him, to certify the outcome.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's legislature on Thursday approved a law to regulate the registration and funding of NGOs described by Maduro's regime as a "facade for the financing of terrorist actions."

The law is one of several under consideration in the regime-friendly National Assembly that critics say are meant to criminalize Maduro's opponents.

The vast majority of the 277 lawmakers in the single-chamber National Assembly are loyal to Maduro, who had warned of a "bloodbath" if he lost his reelection bid.

Rights activists in Venezuela on Thursday raised the alarm over the NGO law, which they said would "deepen the persecution" of Maduro critics.

Since coming to power in 2013, Maduro has presided over an economic collapse that has seen more than seven million Venezuelans flee the country as GDP plunged 80 percent in a decade.

His previous reelection, in 2018, was also rejected as a sham by dozens of countries.

P.Grant--TFWP