Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski said Thursday his movement will boycott an audit of the election results and push the government to hold a new presidential vote. Capriles said the opposition would not participate in the audit because the National Electoral Council did not meet its demand for an examination of registers containing voters’ signatures and fingerprints. He said the opposition would go to the Supreme Court to challenge the results of the April 14 election, which was narrowly won by Nicolás Maduro, the handpicked successor of President Hugo Chávez, an anti-American leader who died from cancer.
Capriles said he’s not optimistic the Supreme Court, which is packed with allies of Chávez, would overturn results of the election.
“This is a fight for the truth,” he said. “This fight is not over.”
Capriles lost the presidential contest by fewer than 300,000 votes out of more than 14.7 million cast. His supporters have been calling for mass demonstrations.
Capriles accused Maduro of election fraud and said the election agency was stalling on a recount, subverting the will of the country.
Four of the agency’s five directors are supporters of Maduro, and Capriles, the governor of the state of Miranda, has repeatedly questioned their impartiality. Venezuela’s election agency said last week that it would hold a recount but has given few details about the procedure.
“The truth is that they stole the election,” Capriles said at a news conference. “We are not going to let them mock us.”
Full Article: Venezuela opposition to boycott vote audit.