Sawt Falasteen - Calls to publish Venezuela election results grow as Pope warns against violence

The country's election authority says the July 28 vote was won by incumbent Nicolas Maduro, a result that defied pre-election polls and ignited protests that rights group say have left 11 people dead so far and thousands arrested.

A growing number of nations, including the United States and Argentina, say the election was won by opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

EU states France, Germany, Italy and Spain are among those that have urged transparency, calling on authorities to release detailed vote tallies.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who spent much of the week in hiding after Maduro threatened her with arrest following the protests, welcomed their "commitment to democracy" over the weekend.

She had backed the candidacy of Gonzalez Urrutia after she herself was banned from running.

"On behalf of Venezuelans, I thank you for this important message ... reaffirming your commitment to democracy," she wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

On Friday, the National Electoral Council (CNE) ratified Maduro's victory with 52 percent of the vote against 43 percent for Gonzalez Urrutia.

Claiming to be the victim of computer hacking, the CNE, which the opposition accuses of being loyal to Maduro, has still not provided details of the vote on a poll-by-poll basis.

The opposition believes that this is a maneuver to avoid revealing the true results, and has published the minutes of each polling station on a website showing that Gonzalelz Urrutia won 67 percent of the vote.

Maduro has rejected their validity.

"We support the request for the verification of the minutes that we have presented, as soon as possible, at an international and independent level," said Machado.

"We also appreciate the call for an end to the persecution and repression which, in recent hours, has been cruelly deployed against innocent people who are merely demanding respect for the popular sovereignty they exercised on Sunday," she added.

- 'Seek the truth' -

She spoke as Pope Francis, saying Venezuela was undergoing "a critical situation", sent "a heartfelt appeal to all parties to seek the truth and exercise moderation to avoid any type of violence."

Speaking to the crowd gathered at St. Peter's Square after his traditional Angelus prayer, Francis called on the country "to settle disputes through dialogue and have the true interests of the population and not the interests of parties."

Maduro has slammed what he called attempts to "usurp the presidency," while Machado has said the opposition has "never been so strong."

After Venezuela's last election, in 2018, Maduro was proclaimed winner amid widespread accusations of fraud. Eventually the United States and dozens of other countries recognized the then-speaker of parliament, Juan Guaido, as Venezuela's acting president.

But Guaido failed to remove Maduro from office as many had hoped he would, and the once wildly popular young politician has largely faded from public life.

Maduro, 61, has slammed the international criticism, describing allegations of vote fraud as a "trap" orchestrated by Washington to justify "a coup."

He has led the oil-rich, cash-poor country since 2013, presiding over a GDP drop of 80 percent that pushed more than seven million of once-wealthy Venezuela's 30 million citizens to emigrate.

Experts blame economic mismanagement and US sanctions for the collapse.

Maduro has maintained power thanks to loyalty from the military leadership, electoral bodies, courts and other state institutions, as well as the backing of Russia, China and Cuba.

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Z.AlNajjar--SF-PST