US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that he would support a new election in Venezuela, following Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s suggestion for a new contest involving international observers. This comes despite rebuffs from both Venezuela’s ruling party and its opposition, who both claim victory in the July 28 election.
Biden confirmed his support for a new election after Lula proposed a new contest as a potential solution for the political crisis in Venezuela. The US has previously rejected Maduro’s victory claim.
The suggestion for a new election is one of many proposed by the international community, none of which have received support from either Maduro or his opposition coalition.
The US, which tightened oil sanctions on Venezuela in April over what it called Maduro’s failure to comply with an electoral agreement, along with other Western countries, are showing little indication of taking swift and decisive action against what they have condemned as voting fraud.
Lula also suggested a “coalition government” as another possible solution for Venezuela.
“If (Maduro) has common sense, he could put it to the people, perhaps calling new elections with a nonpartisan electoral committee,” Lula said in a radio interview.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado rejected both Biden and Lula’s suggestion.
“The election already happened,” Machado told journalists in and Chile in a video call on Thursday. “Maduro must be made to know that the cost of his staying grows with each day that passes.”
Ruling party officials in Venezuela have also previously ruled out new elections.
The Brazilian president stated that he still does not recognize Maduro as the winner of the vote and that his government must publish the voting tallies, which have not been released, echoing calls from countries around the world over the last two weeks.
“Maduro knows he owes Brazil and the world an explanation,” Lula said.
Lula and Colombian President Gustavo Petro spoke by phone on Wednesday to discuss finding a solution to Venezuela’s crisis, but no details of the conversation were released.
Petro suggested in a post on X on Thursday that the Venezuelan ruling party and the opposition could take turns in power, similar to an arrangement used in Colombia for 16 years in the twentieth century.
“The political solution for Venezuela depends on Nicolas Maduro, who carries the peace and prosperity of his country,” Petro said, adding in another post that a political deal is the best option and depends on Venezuelans.
Petro, who re-established trade and diplomatic relations with Venezuela after taking office in 2022, also called for the lifting of all sanctions on Venezuela.
Latin American leaders will discuss the crisis this weekend when many are in the Dominican Republic to attend the inauguration of the country’s new president, Panama’s President Jose Raul Mulino said on Thursday during his weekly press conference.
Lula’s top foreign policy advisor Celso Amorim, speaking to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Brazil had not formally proposed a new election in Venezuela.
Conservative senators at the hearing criticized the Lula administration for favoring Maduro with its soft stance and questioned what Brazil was doing for jailed opposition leaders.
Amorim stated that Brazil offered to send a plane to pick up six opposition members seeking asylum in the Argentine embassy, which is now under a Brazilian flag since Venezuela broke ties with Argentina.
Venezuela’s electoral authority proclaimed Maduro won 51% of the vote but has not divulged full vote tallies.
Tallies in possession of the opposition, which it has posted to a public website, show Gonzalez received 67% of the vote.