Antony Blinken spoke with Maria Corina Machado

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke by phone on Tuesday with opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia to tell them that Washington “will continue to defend the return of democratic freedoms” in Venezuela.

“Blinken praised her courage and commitment to democratic principles in the face of brutal repression and adversity,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

The note does not specify whether they discussed a possible recognition of González Urrutia as president-elect, something that Machado, the main Venezuelan opposition leader, has been demanding from the international community for days.

Blinken assured them that the United States “will continue to defend the return of democratic freedoms in Venezuela, will fight to ensure that the will of Venezuelan voters is respected and that (President) Nicolás Maduro and his representatives are held accountable for their actions,” Miller added.

González Urrutia claims victory in the July 28 elections over Maduro, who was proclaimed re-elected for a third consecutive six-year term.

The opposition published copies of the electoral records on a website, which they claim prove the victory of the opposition to Chavez.

After being the target of an arrest warrant, González Urrutia traveled to Spain to obtain asylum. Machado remains in Venezuela.

The call with Blinken came days after Washington imposed sanctions on 16 Venezuelan officials for “electoral fraud.”

Joe Biden’s government has refrained from tightening the siege on the Venezuelan oil sector. And a few weeks before the US presidential elections, it remains to be seen whether it will do so or avoid doing so in order not to risk losing a channel of communication with Caracas..