CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Diplomatic efforts are underway to convince the people of Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro letting go vote counts by The presidential elections in Venezuela, after opposition leaders entered into a discussion his claim to victory and amid growing calls for an independent investigation into the findings, officials from Brazil and Mexico said.
Government officials from Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have been in constant contact with Maduro’s government to convince him to produce ballots from Sunday’s election and allow for impartial verification, a Brazilian government official told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Officials have told the Venezuelan government that showing the data is the only way to dispel doubts about the results, said the Brazilian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the diplomatic efforts.
A Mexican official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the three governments had discussed the issue with Venezuela, but did not provide details. Earlier, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he planned to speak with President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, and that his government believes it is important that the election results be made public.
Maduro filed a request with Venezuela’s highest court on Wednesday to perform an audit of the elections, but that request was almost immediately criticized by foreign observers who said the court is too close to the government to conduct an independent investigation.
It was unclear whether Maduro’s first concession to demands for greater transparency came as a result of talks with Brazil, Colombia and Mexico. Venezuela’s president confirmed at a press conference on Wednesday that he had spoken to Petro about it.
Venezuela’s Supreme Court is closely tied to Maduro’s government. The court’s judges are nominated by federal officials and confirmed by the National Assembly, which is dominated by Maduro sympathizers.
Maduro’s main challenger, Edmundo Gonzalezand opposition leader Maria Corina Machado say that they are more than two-thirds of the the counting sheets that each electronic voting machine printed after the polls closed. They said the release of the data on those counts would prove that Maduro is lost.
Asked why electoral authorities have not released detailed vote counts, Maduro said the National Electoral Council has been targeted by attacks, including cyberattacks. He did not elaborate.
The presidents of Colombia and Brazil – both close allies of the Venezuelan government – have called on Maduro to release detailed voting figures.
The Brazilian official said the diplomatic efforts are only intended to foster dialogue among Venezuelan stakeholders to negotiate a resolution to the disputed election. The official said this would include the release of voting data and allowing independent verification.
López Obrador said Mexico hopes the will of the Venezuelan people will be respected and that there will be no violence. He added that Mexico expects “the evidence, the election results, to be presented.”
Since the elections, pressure on the president has been increasing.
The National Electoral Council, which is loyal to Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela, has not yet released results processed by a voting machine, as has been the case in previous elections.
The electoral council reported that Maduro received 5.1 million votes, compared with more than 4.4 million for González. But Machado, the opposition leader, has said vote tallies show González received about 6.2 million votes, compared with 2.7 million for Maduro.
Venezuela has the the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves and once had the most advanced economy in Latin America, but the country went into freefall after Maduro took over in 2013. Falling oil prices, widespread shortages and hyperinflation that exceeded 130,000 percent led to social unrest and mass emigration.
More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014, the greatest exodus in the recent history of Latin America.
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Sá Pessoa reported from São Paulo. Associated Press correspondent María Verza contributed to this report from Mexico City