US recognizes opposition's Edmundo González as winner of Venezuela election instead of Maduro

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said that the United States officially recognizes opposition candidate Edmundo González as the real winner of the Venezuelan presidential election, instead of incumbent Nicolas Maduro.

The results of Sunday's presidential election have been in dispute since both candidates claimed victory. But the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the victor on Monday, which gave him a third six-year term. Protests have broken out across the country as a result.

“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election," Blinken said in a statement reported by the Associated Press.

The announcement comes as officials from the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia pressure Maduro's government to release the vote tally from the election, which Gonzalez and his ally, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, claim would prove that Maduro actually lost.

The officials claimed that releasing the tallies would be the only way to dispel concerns about the legitimacy of the election.

Maduro has asked the country's highest court to conduct an audit of the election, but members of the international community claimed that the court was not an impartial entity, and was too close to Maduro. But the court accepted the request anyways, and has asked Maduro and the other candidates to appear in court on Friday.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.