MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Friday that his government would wait for Venezuela’s government to publish local vote tallies from the South American country’s disputed presidential election before recognizing a winner.
Venezuela’s electoral body declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the July 28 vote, but it has not published ballot box-level voting tallies. The country’s top court on Thursday ratified Maduro’s victory.
Both the electoral authority and the court are criticized by the opposition as being in the pocket of the president.
After the July vote, Lopez Obrador said he would respect the Venezuelan electoral body’s declaration, but also called on the publication of vote tallies.
“We’re going to wait until they release the tallies,” said Lopez Obrador.
When asked about the lag in releasing the tallies, Lopez Obrador offered that he respects the decisions other countries take.
(Reporting by David Alire in Mexico City; Writing by Brendan O’Boyle; Editing by Stephen Eisenhammer and Matthew Lewis)
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