CARACAS: Venezuela’s opposition warned on Thursday of a possible mass exodus of migrants if President Nicolás Maduro remains in power after his disputed re-election, with the US urging the strongman not to arrest protest leaders.
Election authorities declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 vote but have yet to release detailed results, leading leftist allies Brazil, Colombia and Mexico on Thursday to repeat a joint call for the National Electoral Council (CNE) to release election records.
Venezuela’s opposition, which claims a landslide victory, broke down in tears. Official results declaring Maduro the winner sparked protests last week that left at least 24 dead, according to rights groups.
opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was banned. from candidacy in the elections – he said in a video conference with Mexican news channels.
Since Maduro came to power in 2013, more than seven million Venezuelans have fled the country of 30 million, mostly to other Latin American countries and the United States, according to the United Nations.
Washington has led sanctions against Maduro’s regime and threatened on Thursday more action if Maduro arrests opposition leader Machado or Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a veteran retired diplomat who ran after agreeing at the last minute to replace his banned colleague.
Machado on Thursday called on Maduro’s leftist ally Mexico to use its influence to help broker a solution to Venezuela’s political crisis.
