Sawt Falasteen - US, allies urge pressure on Venezuela's Maduro after disputed vote

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his counterpart from Argentina together led a meeting on Venezuela's political crisis on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

"The regime may try to obscure the results, but the Venezuelan people have spoken," Blinken said. "Now, our job is to ensure their voices are heard."

Blinken said Maduro must be urged "to engage in a direct dialogue with Venezuela's united democratic opposition that leads to a peaceful return to democracy."

In a joint statement, the United States and 30 other countries urged Maduro to start "constructive and inclusive discussions" on a democratic transition and to immediately release Venezuelans detained in the election aftermath.

"We stand with the millions of Venezuelans who continue to risk their lives and well-being to demand a more democratic, prosperous and secure future for themselves and their country," the statement said.

The statement was signed by fellow Western powers including Spain, Canada, Germany and Britain.

But in Latin America, the statement was backed largely by conservative governments and not Brazil, Mexico and Colombia -- the three most populous nations in the region which are all led by leftists.

The United States initially hoped for quiet progress through diplomacy by the three countries, which have called on Maduro to release detailed vote tallies.

But the United States has since then called for greater pressure and has distanced itself from calls by the Latin American leftists for a fresh election.

Maduro has claimed victory in Venezuela's July 28 presidential election, despite it being contested by the opposition and much of the international community.

The government-aligned CNE electoral council declared him the winner hours after voting closed, giving him 52 percent of ballots cast without providing a full breakdown.

The opposition has published its own polling station-level data, which it says show that 74-year-old retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won by a landslide.

Facing an arrest warrant in Venezuela, Gonzalez Urrutia fled to Spain earlier this month and was granted political asylum there.

"We must continue to call on the Maduro regime to stop its repression of peaceful protestors, stop its repression of political opponents, immediately and unconditionally release all those who've been arbitrarily detained -- including children," Blinken said.

Washington has accused Maduro of clinging to power by force, but has so far refrained from strengthening sanctions against Venezuelan oil.

At the ministerial meeting Thursday, Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino said that Maduro's government "couldn't care less" about Venezuelans, with 7.8 million people fleeing the country in recent years to escape economic misery.

"They have oil; they have corruption," Mondino said of Maduro's regime. "They don't care about their own people."

Q.Jaber--SF-PST