(Bloomberg) -- Brazil is in negotiations with Mexico and Colombia to publish a joint statement demanding that Venezuela count all votes and release ballot records from each precinct, according to two Brazilian government officials familiar with the matter.
Foreign ministries from the three countries — all led by leftist presidents that have historically maintained close ties to Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro — each issued statements Monday refusing to recognize the outcome of Sunday’s election until Caracas takes steps to ensure the transparency of the process.
But Brazil sees a joint statement from Maduro’s closest allies in the region as a way to ramp up pressure on his government, which has so far ignored requests from Venezuela’s opposition and the international community to release those records, the officials said.
Representatives from the foreign ministries of Mexico and Colombia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is upset with the situation in Venezuela, and believes Maduro has systematically failed to deliver on promises for transparency in the electoral process, the officials said, requesting anonymity to discuss the president’s thinking.
Underscoring the dissatisfaction, Brazil’s foreign ministry ordered the country’s ambassador to Caracas to skip a Monday ceremony held by Venezuela’s electoral agency to certify the result. According to a partial vote tally published by the government, Maduro received 51.2% of votes, compared to 44.2% for leading opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
Lula last week said that Maduro needed to learn that “when you lose an election, you go away and get ready to dispute another one.” He also warned that Venezuela’s economic future depended on a clean election with an outcome the international community deemed legitimate.
--With assistance from Maya Averbuch and Oscar Medina.
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