US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday (26) called on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to engage in dialogue with the opposition following the country’s disputed election, adding that the US was ready to support such a process.
“We come here united in our commitment to defend the human rights of the Venezuelan people and committed to advancing an inclusive, Venezuelan-led effort to restore the nation’s democratic future,” Blinken said at an event on Venezuela on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
“This means insisting that Maduro engage in direct dialogue with Venezuela’s united democratic opposition that leads to a peaceful return to democracy. The United States and its partners stand fully ready to support this process,” he added.
Venezuelan electoral authorities and the Supreme Court declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner of the July 28 election with 52% of the vote. But the opposition says ballot results show a landslide victory for its candidate, Edmundo González.
Some Western governments, including the United States, have alleged electoral fraud.
A UN report last week alleged increasing government repression since the election, including the arrest of minors. The government has rejected the allegations.
Blinken said keeping up the pressure in the months leading up to the presidential inauguration in January was crucial, saying the U.S. and its partners must continue calling on Maduro’s government to stop cracking down on peaceful protesters and political opponents and to unconditionally release those arbitrarily detained.
“We must use every tool at our disposal to hold accountable those individuals who bear the greatest responsibility for the grave human rights abuses committed against the Venezuelan people, as the United States has done and will continue to do,” Blinken said.
“We cannot be content with just joint statements. We have to take joint actions. That is the only way to change Maduro’s calculus and his behavior,” he added.
Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino warned at the event that the election in Venezuela has consequences for many countries.
“There are winds, authoritarian winds, blowing across our continent, and let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a hurricane,” she said.
This content was originally published in At the UN, Blinken asks Maduro to dialogue with Venezuela’s opposition on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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