Brazil, Mexico And Colombia Ask Venezuela To Release Complete Voice Counting

JAKARTA - Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia have asked Venezuela to release a detailed vote count on Thursday, amid a dispute over the results of the presidential election that has sparked protests.

Today's Brazilian, Colombian and Mexican presidents are traditionally more friendly with Venezuelan incumbent Nicolas Maduro and have taken a more neutral stance on the election, as countries around the world call for a complete vote count to be released, while the United States says Maduro must recognize Gonzalez's victory.

"We call on the election authorities in Venezuela to move quickly and announce detailed vote count results to the public," Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia said in a joint statement after a phone call between their president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and Gustavo Petro.

Results must be verified impartially, said the countries, all political actors must avoid escalation of violence and election controversy that must be resolved through institutions.

"We reaffirm our willingness to support dialogue efforts and seek deals that benefit the Venezuelan people," the statement said.

Venezuela's electoral council announced Maduro, which has been in power since 2013, as the winner of the July 28 election with 51 percent of the vote.

However, the country's opposition said its tally showed around 90 percent of the vote showed its candidategetto Gonzalez received more than double the support from the incumbent president, in line with an independent poll conducted before the contest.

Opposition has released detailed tally on public websites, but the government has so far not shared any information beyond the total national vote for each candidate.

The disputed election has led to deadly protests by Maduro and its allies in the military as a coup attempt.

Earlier, Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday it had received reports of 20 deaths in post-election demonstrations.

The protests have shut down shops and caused layoffs in public transport across Venezuela, which has been mired in a deep and long economic crisis marked by high inflation, but many places returned to normal on Thursday.

Major government figures including Maduro said Gonzalez and leading opposition leader Maria Corina Machado should take responsibility for anti-government protests, with some calling for their arrests.

There have been more than 1,200 arrests of protesters, Maduro said on Thursday, and the government is looking for another 1,000.

Yesterday, Venezuela's Supreme Court received a request from Maduro for all presidential candidates to submit their vote count at the session on Friday, August 2, the president of the Caryslia Beatriz Rodriguez court said on state television.