CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP)— President Nicolas Maduro on Friday ruled out negotiating with opposition leader Maria Corina Machado after he appeared before Venezuela’s Supreme Court, asking the country’s top judicial body to ratify his disputed reelection.
He was responding to Machado’s offer of “guarantees and incentives” for a “negotiated transition” of power that would see him leave office, in an interview with AFP as she continues to challenge the July 28 vote.
The South American nation has been in political crisis since election authorities declared Maduro the winner of last month’s poll, a decision questioned both at home and abroad.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) has yet to release detailed results from the vote, while the opposition has released copies of 84 percent of ballots cast, showing an easy win for their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. The government says those results are forged.
The Supreme Court — widely seen as aligned with Maduro — summoned all presidential candidates before it, though Gonzalez Urrutia refused to attend.
Maduro did so on Friday, after which he directed a warning to Machado.
“The only person in this country who needs to negotiate with Machado is the public prosecutor,” Maduro said after his hearing.
“She should surrender to the courts and answer for the crimes she has committed” in contesting the election result.
She is currently in hiding amid fears for her safety.
The disputed election sparked protests that have left at least 24 people dead, according to rights groups, and more than 2,000 arrested.
