The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Deputy Iris Varela warned that the Venezuelan far-right opposition belonging to the Unitary Platform (PUD), together with international news agencies, has a plan to announce alleged electoral results ahead of time on this Sunday, July 28. In Venezuela, the electoral law only allows the National Electoral Council (CNE) to announce electoral results. Only afterwards are media outlets permitted to disclose their estimates.

PSUV Deputy Warns that Far-Right Opposition Plans to Announce Electoral Results Ahead of Time

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Venezuela: Maduro Denounces Far-Right Sabotage as Machado Issues Election Day Instructions

An allegedly leaked report from pro-opposition pollster Datanálisis predicted a narrow Maduro victory on July 28.

The U.S. is going to dispute the election results and claim that Edmundo González won! The Biden Administration has already been using Lula and Gustavo Petro as intermediaries to interfere in Venezuelan politics!

How to Stop a Coup by Mark Feierstein (USAID)

That said, the United States and other countries could do a lot over the next few days to promote a legitimate election and a democratic transition. Indeed, Washington has already made important contributions to this complex process. Negotiations with the Venezuelan government and the skillful leveraging of economic sanctions persuaded the regime to permit the opposition primary in October. That vote established María Corina Machado as the undisputed opposition leader, forged unity among opposition parties, and revived the Venezuelan people’s confidence in elections as the best way to resolve the country’s prolonged political, economic, and humanitarian crises. The administration wisely coordinated those diplomatic efforts with Colombia and Brazil, whose leftist leaders have greater access to the Maduro regime. To be sure, Presidents Gustavo Petro of Colombia and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil have been inconsistent in their support for democracy in Venezuela. Yet their intermittent interventions have been timely and consequential. Were it not for Lula’s engagement, for example, the regime likely would have derailed González’s candidacy, as it did to Machado and the opposition’s second choice, Corina Yoris.

“The Venezuelan opposition is increasingly optimistic that its unity candidate Edmundo González will win the July 28 contest by such an ample margin that Maduro would have no choice but to acknowledge the outcome.”