US, Brazil, Colombia in favor of fresh Venezuela elections

The presidents of Brazil and Colombia, with US backing, called Thursday for fresh elections in Venezuela after international condemnation of last month's vote that the opposition says was stolen by strongman Nicolas Maduro.

The South American pair, who spoke on the phone Wednesday to discuss a possible "political exit" from Venezuela's post-election crisis, independently urged Maduro to consider a new vote.

From Washington, US President Joe Biden said he would support such a move, but Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said it would show "a lack of respect" for the popular will already expressed on July 28.

If Maduro "is sensible," said Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, "he could try to appeal to the people of Venezuela, perhaps even organize elections."

Lula told a Brazilian radio station there should be "criteria for participation of all candidates" in a new election, which should "allow observers from all over the world."

For his part, Colombian President Gustavo Petro called on X for the lifting of all sanctions against Caracas, a "general national and international amnesty," "new, free elections" and a "transitional cohabitation government."

- 'Adverse conditions' -

Asked by a reporter at the White House whether he supported the idea of fresh Venezuelan elections, Biden replied: "I do."

But Machado, who was replaced by a proxy after being barred from seeking election by Maduro-friendly state institutions, told a virtual press conference that "to ignore what happened on July 28 shows a lack of respect for Venezuelans" who voted "in very adverse conditions where there was fraud and we still managed to win."

Venezuela's CNE electoral council proclaimed Maduro the winner of a third, six-year term, giving him 52 percent of votes cast but without providing a detailed breakdown of the results.

The opposition says polling station-level results show that its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a 74-year-old retired diplomat, defeated Maduro by a wide margin.

Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado have been in hiding since the president accused them of seeking to foment a "coup d'etat" and demanded they be jailed.

Anti-Maduro protests have claimed 25 lives so far, with dozens injured and more than 2,400 arrested.

Maduro's victory claim has been rejected by the United States, European Union and several Latin American countries.

Mexico's President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, meanwhile, insisted Thursday it was "not prudent that we, whichever foreign government, should have an opinion about something that is up to the Venezuelans to resolve."

- Legislative offensive -

Maduro has rejected the possibility of new elections and asked the country's highest court, also viewed as loyal to him, to certify the outcome.

Meanwhile, Venezuela's legislature on Thursday approved a law to regulate the registration and funding of NGOs described by Maduro's regime as a "facade for the financing of terrorist actions."

The law is part of several under consideration in the regime-friendly National Assembly that critics say are meant to criminalize opponents of the strongman.

National Assembly president Jorge Rodriguez has indicated he would also seek to ban future election observation missions from foreign countries.

Other legislative measures seek to increase government oversight over social media and to punish "fascism" -- a term often used by Maduro to tar critics.

The socialist president says social media is being used to attack him and to promote "hate," "fascism" and "division."

Last week, he banned social media site X for 10 days after its chief executive Elon Musk said Maduro had engaged in "major election fraud." The president has also promoted a boycott against WhatsApp.

The vast majority of the 277 lawmakers in the single-chamber National Assembly are loyal to Maduro, who had warned of a "bloodbath" if he lost his reelection bid.

United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights have urged lawmakers not to pass laws they said would limit democratic freedoms.

Since coming to power in 2013, Maduro has presided over an economic collapse that has seen more than seven million Venezuelans flee the country, as GDP plunged 80 percent in a decade.

His reelection in 2018 was also rejected as a sham by dozens of countries.