US should do ‘much more’ amid Venezuela election dispute, opposition leader Machado says
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FILE PHOTO: Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado speaks during a protest against the election results announced by President Nicolas Maduro's government after he was declared winner of the election, in Caracas, Venezuela August 28, 2024. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Thursday the United States should do "much more" amid a more than month-long election dispute in the South American country.
The United States is expected to sanction about 60 Venezuelan government officials and their family members in the first punitive measures following the July vote, two sources told Reuters last month.
"The United States should do much more," Machado told a virtual press conference. "Companies should understand it's in their best interest, as well as Venezuela's creditors, for a transition to proceed as fast as possible."
Venezuela's national electoral authority and its top court have said President Nicolas Maduro was the victor of the election with just over half of the votes, but opposition tallies show a resounding victory for its coalition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
The opposition, some Western countries and international bodies like a United Nations panel of experts have said the vote was not transparent and demanded publication of full tallies, with some outright decrying fraud.
Many countries, including the U.S., have also criticized an arrest warrant issued for Gonzalez, which followed weeks of comments from top government officials that Gonzalez and other members of the opposition should go to jail.
The government calls the opposition a fascist movement allied with imperialist forces abroad and blames it for the protest deaths. Opponents accuse the government of carrying out a campaign of repression. REUTERS
