Brazil and Colombia call on Venezuela to release voting figures, condemning ‘violence and repression’

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The leaders of Brazil and Colombia on Saturday again called on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to make the vote results public, days after the country’s Supreme Court upheld the government’s disputed claims that it won the July election.

In a joint statement, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the “credibility of the electoral process can only be restored through the transparent publication of disaggregated and verifiable data.”

The two leaders also warned of repression as the Venezuelan government has detained thousands of people and responded to protests with violence.

The governments spoke a day after several other Latin American countries and the United States rejected Venezuela’s Supreme Court’s certification. Many were waiting to see how the two leftist leaders would respond to the court, as they are both close allies of Maduro and have worked to facilitate talks with both sides.

Maduro claims he won the presidential election, but has so far refused to release the official counts, which are considered the only verifiable vote count in Venezuela because they are nearly impossible to copy.

The main opposition coalition accuses Maduro of trying to steal votes.

Opposition volunteers managed to collect copies of voting results from 80% of the 30,000 polling stations across the country, showing that former opposition candidate Edmundo González won by a margin of more than 2 to 1. The Supreme Court claimed the results were falsified.

Lula and Petro said they “take note” of the court ruling, but added that they are still waiting for the counts to be published.

The governments also called on actors in Venezuela to “avoid resorting to violent and repressive acts,” as security forces arrested more than 2,000 people and cracked down on demonstrations that spontaneously broke out across the country to protest the results. But the two leaders did not directly accuse Maduro’s government of carrying out the violence.

The arrests have renewed fears in a country that has previously faced repressive government measures in periods of political unrest.

Meanwhile, key opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has gone into hiding and the government said Friday it would order González to testify under oath in an ongoing investigation, saying he was part of an attempt to sow panic by challenging the election results.

Both Lula and Petro have previously been criticized for their soft policies toward the Maduro government, but their tone has become tougher in recent months, especially in the aftermath of the election.

Their two countries are neighbors of Venezuela and their governments witnessed agreements between Maduro and the opposition aimed at setting a path to free and fair elections, which the opposition and other observers accused Maduro of violating. The two leaders reiterated their willingness to facilitate dialogue between the government and the opposition.

“The political normalization of Venezuela requires the recognition that there is no sustainable alternative to peaceful dialogue and democratic coexistence,” the statement said.