Venezuela opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who insists he is the rightful winner of the July 28 presidential election, failed to comply Wednesday with a Supreme Court summons ordering his appearance for an audit of the disputed July 28 vote.
The government-aligned National Electoral Council certified the vote for President Nicolas Maduro, securing him a third six-year term in office. The decision was rejected by the opposition and resulted in deadly protests.
The opposition also considers the Supreme Court in alignment with Maduro’s government.
The United States and several Latin American countries are among the nations that have recognized Gonzalez as the winner of the presidential vote and have called for Venezuela’s election officials to publish their data. Election officials say they have handed over their tallies to the court.
The opposition says its own counts show that Gonzalez, a retired diplomat, was the resounding winner of the election.
The country’s highest court summoned all the presidential candidates and representatives of the parties that nominated them — including Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado — to appear before the court Wednesday for a certification of the election results.
In a Wednesday post on X, Gonzalez explained why he failed to appear: “If I go to the electoral chamber [of the Supreme Court] in these conditions, I will be totally vulnerable due to powerlessness and violation of due process and I will put at risk not only my freedom but, more importantly, the will of the Venezuelan people as they expressed on July 28.
“Citizen Nicolas Maduro … has publicly stated … that if I do not appear, I will incur legal responsibilities, and that if I appear and file copies” of voting records, “there will also be serious criminal responsibilities,” he added.
“Is this an impartial procedure that respects the law? Am I condemned in advance?”
Like Gonzalez, Machado also did not appear in court. She remains in hiding and has said that she fears for her life.
Many of the country’s opposition leaders have chosen exile rather than face arrest and imprisonment in Venezuela.
Reuters reported that three groups who supported Gonzalez’s campaign did, however, appear before the court Wednesday.
John Kirby, White House national security spokesperson, called Wednesday for Maduro to release his voting data immediately. Kirby said Gonzalez won the most votes based on evidence from the opposition, civil society and other observers.
Support for the opposition has grown, following years of economic mismanagement that has impoverished many Venezuelans, driving many to leave the country. Many poor and working-class Venezuelans who previously backed Maduro’s left-wing populist political ideology now support the opposition.
