'The evidence is overwhelming': United States confirms that Edmundo González won the elections in Venezuela

While Venezuela lives dramatic hours due to a wave of brutal repression by the security forces of Nicolás Maduro's regime, from the Organization of American States (OAS), the United States planted a clear and definitive position: Edmundo González Urrutia, candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, soundly defeated Nicolás Maduro.

In an address to OAS ambassadors, Brian A. Nichols, undersecretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, stated that the dictator Maduro should acknowledge his defeat in the face of the avalanche of evidence proving his defeat.

"Given the overwhelming evidence obtained by documented proof of millions of votes cast, Maduro and his proxies must recognize Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the July 28 presidential election. Given the clear evidence, the governments of the world should also recognize the resounding electoral victory of Edmundo Gonzalez," said Nichols, who then referred to countries that do not support the Venezuelan opposition.

"They will only be allowing the attempt of massive fraud by Maduro and his representatives, and the disregard for the rule of law and democratic principles," he said.

After his intervention, the U.S. Under Secretary doubled down in a brief comment on X (formerly Twitter): "Today, at the OAS, the governments of the United States and other countries made their position clear: Maduro must recognize the real results of the elections in Venezuela and the will of Venezuelan voters must prevail. We maintain our call for transparency and the publication of accurate and detailed results."

Nichols' comments come after the OAS, in a widely criticized decision, rejected a draft resolution calling on the Venezuelan National Electoral Council to publish the electoral records to verify Sunday's results.

With the abstention of Brazil and Colombia added to Mexico's absence, the regional forum discarded a resolution that the United States, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay backed.

The U.S. support for Gonzalez also comes after Maria Corina Machado, leader of the Venezuelan opposition, announced yesterday that they have already verified more than 80% of the electoral records showing Edmundo Gonzalez's massive triumph over Maduro.

In fact, in a categorical effort to ensure transparency and integrity for the electoral process, the opposition uploaded on a web page all the tally sheets obtained by its electoral witnesses, showing a resounding result in favor of Gonzalez, who obtained 67 % of the votes (7,173,152), against the 30 % (3,250,424) obtained by Maduro.

At this hour, the CNE has not yet published the official tally sheets to validate the results it gave on Sunday. In an unexpected turn of events, Maduro himself went to the Supreme Court of Justice (also controlled by Chavismo) with a legal injunction for the institution to audit the presidential elections and "clarify everything it has to clarify." Even so, the distrust in the Venezuelan electoral system is so wide that Maduro's sudden decision gives more and more support to the allegations of fraud made by the opposition, which is taking care of showing the world the evidence of the triumph.

The flip side: ongoing negotiations between Caracas, Bogota, Brasilia and Washington

While presidents Gustavo Petro, Lula da Silva and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) are receiving criticism for Colombia, Brazil and Mexico's positions at the OAS regarding the electoral fraud, there are indications that a series of ongoing behind-the-scenes negotiations could explain the decision to abstain.

According to Spanish newspaper El País, for days Bogota, Brasilia, Mexico City and Washington have been negotiating with Maduro for a peaceful exit from power.

"We are talking about the most important and difficult political operation of this century in the Americas," a source privy to these higher-level talks told the Spanish media.

"The negotiation is urgent. The aim is to prevent the Venezuelan authorities' repression against demonstrators from escalating and the death toll from rising with each passing hour. So far, 20 murders have been documented, according to Human Rights Watch, and the Venezuelan Attorney General's Office puts the number of arrests during the protests at more than 1,000. The weight of the talks is being carried by Joe Biden's operators and representatives of the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, according to the same source, and their objective is to convince Chavismo of the need to show the minutes of the polling stations and clear any doubts about the result. At this point, few regional leaders believe that Maduro has won cleanly. And the refusal of the ruling party to show the polling station tally sheets leaves little room for imagination," reported El País.

Despite the report, the distrust towards the presidents of these Latin American countries is clear, due to the fact that both Lula, Petro and AMLO have been historical allies of Chavismo.

Furthermore, in the last hours, dictator Maduro has publicly ordered to increase persecution and repression against dissidents, announcing new measures to persecute demonstrators, publicly threatening Machado and Gonzalez, and, finally, promising a "new revolution" reminiscent of his statements of "a river of blood" days before the July 28th elections were held.