US Refuses to Recognize New Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro

BBC News has reported that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has indicated that the United States was not ready to validate the results of the Venezuelan presidential elections. Nicolás Maduro, the successor to Hugo Chavez, was declared the winner by the Venezuelan electoral council on Sunday, and on Wednesday the head of the council said that there was no legal basis for a vote-by-vote recount, as opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has requested.

Kerry told members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday that "if there are huge irregularities we are going to have serious questions about the viability of that government", reported the BBC. The Union of South American Nations (Unasur), which consists of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru, has recognized the electoral council's decision as legitimate.

In Venezuela, Maduro responded, "We don't care about your recognition. We have chosen to be free, and we are going to be free with or without you." Venezuela and the United States have not had ambassadors in each other's capitals since 2010.

The Venezuelan daily "El Universal" reported that Maduro also said that in Venezuela there exists not an opposition, but rather "a conspiracy" adding that his government had information about a plot coming from the United States.

"The proof is there," he claimed. "Either they're with our country or they're with the putschists." Maduro has also said that one day a scientific commission would prove that the late Hugo Chávez's cancer had been "injected by imperialist forces", with Venezuelan officials saying they would set up an inquiry to investigate whether foreign agencies had indeed murdered him.

Maduro left the country today for Lima, Peru, for an emergency meeting with Unasur. In his absence, Vice President Jorge Arreaza will be in charge. "El Universal" wrote that Henrique Capriles was considering attending the meeting as well.

Capriles says his team has evidence of 3,200 voting irregularities ranging from voters using fake IDs to intimidation of volunteers at polling centers, and opposition sources claim Capriles received 300-400 thousand votes which never appeared in the official tally. After the results were certified by the electoral council, which the opposition says is in league with Maduro and his ruling socialist party, Capriles called for supporters to take to the streets. Protests soon degenerated into violence.

Reuters reported that during clashes on Monday, about 135 people were arrested and more than 60 hurt. Seven people have died, according to government figures.