Colombia’s Petro urges ‘transparent’ vote count amid Venezuela unrest
Al Jazeera
Colombian leader urges Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro to ‘allow transparent vote count’ as opposition alleges fraud.
Colombia’s left-wing President Gustavo Petro has called for a “transparent vote count” in Venezuela, which has been rocked by days of mass protests after President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of a disputed election.
Petro, who has worked to improve Colombia-Venezuela ties since taking office in 2022, said on Wednesday that the Venezuelan government should “allow the elections to end in peace, allowing a transparent vote count … and professional international supervision”.
Such a process would appease protesters “and stop the violence that leads to death”, the Colombian president wrote in a social media post.
He also said Maduro, who came to power in 2013 after the death of his mentor Hugo Chavez, held a “great responsibility” amid the turmoil: “to honour Chavez’s spirit and to allow the Venezuelan people to return to tranquility while the elections conclude peacefully and the transparent result, whatever it may be, is accepted”.
Petro’s comments come as Maduro has rebuffed international criticism and pressure to release the full results of Sunday’s presidential election, which saw the Venezuelan president face opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
