Andrés Velásquez says that Maduro “must abandon power after electoral defeat”

Andrés Velásquez said this Sunday that Nicolas Maduro “He must go” and “abandon power” after the “beating” that, he assured, “the people” gave him in the July 28 elections, despite the fact that the official result proclaimed the president’s re-election.

«A political change occurred here and that must be accepted. It is the golden rule of democracy: he who loses accepts that he lost. Not doing so is simply giving an electoral blow,” said the opponent through a video on X.

Likewise, Velásquez maintained that Maduro “can invent anything” and “try any type of setup,” but – he continued – “there is only one truth, unobjectionable, incontrovertible: they lost on July 28.”

The message of Andrés Velásquez

Venezuela remains firm demanding respect for its sovereign right to choose. pic.twitter.com/T4UD0zqLkY

— Andrés Velásquez (@AndresVelasqz) October 6, 2024

After the elections, the largest opposition coalition, Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), denounced as “fraudulent” the official result that gave victory to Maduro, and they say they support this claim through “83.5%” of the minutes that they claim to have gathered through witnesses and that – they insist – demonstrate the victory of its standard bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, today exiled in Spain.

For its part, the ruling party calls the opposition’s minutes “false” and relies on a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice – chaired by Chavista Caryslia Rodríguez – that validated the result proclaimed by the National Electoral Council.

Velásquez stated that the opposition continues with its “claim” and, he affirmed, that “anywhere” Venezuelans will raise their voices to demand “respect for the Constitution.”

«It is a right that assists us, respect for the right to choose established in our Constitution. (…) That is why in Venezuela no one gives up and we continue to firmly demand respect for our decision to change,” he expressed.