Brazil and Colombia call on Venezuela to announce election results

The leaders of Brazil and Colombia on Saturday again called on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to announce the election results, just days after the country's Supreme Court upheld the government's controversial claims that it had won the July elections.

In a joint statement, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the “credibility of the electoral process can only be restored through the transparent publication of disaggregated and verifiable data.”

The two heads of state also warned of repression, as the Venezuelan government has imprisoned thousands and responded to protests with violence.

The governments spoke a day after several other Latin American countries and the United States rejected confirmation of Venezuela's Supreme Court. Many were waiting to see how the two left-wing politicians would react to the court, as both are close allies of Maduro and are working to facilitate talks with both sides.

Lula and Petro said they “take note of the court's decision,” but added they were still waiting for the results to be published.

Maduro claims he won the presidential election, but has so far refused to release the official vote count lists, which are considered the only verifiable way to count votes in Venezuela because they are almost impossible to reproduce.

The largest opposition coalition accused Maduro of trying to manipulate the vote.

Opposition volunteers were able to collect copies of vote tallies in 80 percent of the 30,000 polling stations across the country, showing that former opposition candidate Edmundo González had won by a margin of more than 2-1. The Supreme Court claims those vote tallies were fraudulent.

The governments also called on actors in Venezuela to “renounce violence and repression” after security forces arrested more than 2,000 people and cracked down on demonstrations that erupted spontaneously across the country to protest the results. The two leaders, however, did not directly accuse the Maduro government of carrying out the violence.

The arrests have renewed fear in a country that has previously struggled with harsh government measures during times of political unrest.

Both Lula and Petro have previously been criticized for what some see as lenient policies toward Maduro's government, but in recent months their tone has become tougher, especially in the wake of the election results.

Their two countries are neighbors of Venezuela and their governments should witness agreements between Maduro and the opposition that should pave the way for free and fair elections. The opposition and other observers accused Maduro of violating these agreements. The two leaders reiterated their willingness to facilitate dialogue between the government and the opposition.

“The political normalization of Venezuela requires the recognition that there is no lasting alternative to peaceful dialogue and democratic coexistence,” the statement said.