The U.S. government said today that they considered it "necessary" and "prudent", for a recount of votes that were casted in the general elections in Venezuela, given that the results are "extremely close" with the narrow victory of Nicolas Maduro.
"We congratulate the people of Venezuela for their participation," the White House spokesman, Jay Carney, said in the first official U.S. government reaction to the Venezuelan elections.
This audit "seems like an important step, prudent and necessary to ensure that all Venezuelans can trust the results," said Carney.
"In our opinion, to hurry and make a decision under these circumstances would be inconsistent with the expectations of Venezuelans who want to have a clear and democratic outcome," he added.
Maduro will be proclaimed today as the winner of the presidential election in Venezuela, as confirmed by the Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE), which has not yet officially announced the complaint of the opposition for a recount of votes.
U.S. State Department spokesman, Patrick Ventrell, told reporters that Washington has made an independent assessment of the electoral process, but supports the request of the opposition to investigate "any irregularities."
Carney also said that despite the differences, the White House seeks a dialogue with Venezuela on issues such as the joint effort to fight against drug trafficking and terrorism.
U.S. relations with Venezuela are currently experiencing one of its lowest points since late 2010, when they both were left without ambassadors amid mutual accusations. Later on, there were tensions over U.S. Treasury Department sanctions on the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA for its relations with Iran.
Editorial@sandiegored.com
Omar.Martinez@sandiegored.com
