EU Does Not Recognise Maduro's Claimed Victory In Venezuelan Election

BRUSSELS, Aug 5 (Bernama-dpa) -- The European Union will not recognise the result of the presidential election in Venezuela without the full disclosure of the official voting record, Peter Stano, a spokesman for top EU diplomat Josep Borrell said on Sunday, reported German news agency (dpa). 

"Any attempt to delay the full publication of the official voting records will only cast further doubt on the credibility of the officially published results," Stano said in a statement.  

After the election on July 28, Venezuela's electoral authority declared the authoritarian incumbent, President Nicolás Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, the winner.

However, the electoral authority has not yet published the itemised results of the individual voting districts amidst allegations of electoral fraud. 

The opposition is accusing the government of electoral fraud and is claiming victory for its candidate, Edmundo González. 

Opposition groups have said that their own detailed voting results from more than 80 per cent of constituencies in Venezuela indicate that González received 67 per cent of the votes and Maduro only 30 per cent.

Protests have met the electoral result in Venezuela and abroad and large numbers of people took again to the streets in the capital Caracas on Saturday to protest against Maduro. 

The EU calls on Venezuelan authorities to respect freedom of speech, assembly and human rights, Stano said, and expressed "serious concern about the growing number of arbitrary detentions and the continued harassment of the opposition".

Many foreign governments had already refused to recognise Maduro's re-election in 2018. Juan Guaidó, the then-parliamentary president, declared himself interim president. 

The US, Germany and other countries recognised Guaidó, but Maduro was able to retain the support of powerful groups within Venezuela, including the military. 

The armed forces have once again pledged their loyalty to Maduro.

-- BERNAMA-dpa