The United States accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday of having
"largely distorted"
Sunday's regional and local elections, which in their eyes were neither free nor fair.
"The Maduro regime has once again deprived Venezuelans of their right to participate in a free and fair electoral process
,
"
US foreign minister Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Read also Venezuela: local elections with national scope
"Fearing the voice and the vote of Venezuelans, the regime has largely distorted the process to determine the outcome of these elections long before any ballot has been cast at the ballot box,"
he added, referring to
"arbitrary arrests "
,
" Criminalization of the activities of political parties "
,
" banning of candidates "
,
" media censorship "
and other
" authoritarian methods which have practically stifled political pluralism ".
Antony Blinken salutes the parties, candidates and voters who took part in the polls to
“preserve”
a democratic space, while deploring that Nicolas Maduro has almost made it
“disappear”.
The power of the head of state, whose re-election to the presidency of Venezuela in 2018 is not recognized by Washington and part of the international community, won a landslide victory in Sunday's regional elections, with 20 of 23 positions of governor and the town hall of Caracas.
The divided opposition participated for the first time in a poll since 2017 after boycotting the presidential and legislative elections.
Despite calls for the rally, she failed to unite.
The European Union had deployed an electoral mission, the first in 15 years, which will present a report on Tuesday.