Senior Administration Officials On the Venezuela Election

MODERATOR:  Good afternoon.  Thank you so much for joining this background call on the elections in Venezuela.  Just to go over the ground rules, this briefing will be embargoed until the conclusion of the call.  It is on background with senior administration officials, so any reference must be to senior administration officials.  After we have opening remarks, we will turn to questions.  If you have a question, please use the “raise your hand” function and we will be able to call on as many reporters as possible. 

I’d like to introduce [Senior Administration Official One] and [Senior Administration Official Two].  However, again, this briefing is on background and you will refer to them as senior administration officials. 

[Senior Administration Official One], I’ll turn it over to you for opening remarks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  Thank you and good morning.  Yesterday, Venezuelans went to the polls to vote in an historic presidential election. The election presented an opportunity for Venezuelan voters to express their aspirations for a more democratic, prosperous, and stable country.  We commend their courage and commitment to democratic principles in the face of intense repression and adversity.

Last night, the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council declared Nicolás Maduro the winner, and just this morning it convoked the diplomatic community in Caracas to formally anoint him.  We have serious concerns that this result does not reflect the will and the votes of the Venezuelan people.  By engaging in repression and electoral manipulation, and by declaring a winner without the detailed precinct-by-precinct polling results, or actas in Spanish, to support a claim, Maduro representatives have stripped the supposed election results they announced of any credibility.  We urge Maduro and his representatives to respect the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people and to take immediate steps to restore democratic processes in Venezuela.

We call for the immediate publication of detailed precinct-level polling to ensure accountability.  With the support of the international community, the Venezuelan people can move toward a better future, a more democratic path, one with economic recovery, political stability, and prosperity for all Venezuelans. 

As Secretary Blinken said, the international community is watching and will respond accordingly.  Thank you. 

MODERATOR:  [Senior Administration Official Two], I will now turn it over to you for your remarks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO:  Great, thank you.  Good afternoon, everybody.  I appreciate your joining this call.  I’ll be very brief because I’m sure that we’ll have questions.  I just want to underscore that Venezuelan voters did show up in historic numbers yesterday to express their will at the ballot box.  We stand firmly with the Venezuelan people and support those seeking to restore democracy in Venezuela, and we are very engaged using diplomacy and coordination with regional allies and partners to ensure that the wishes of the Venezuelan people are respected as those wishes have been expressed at the ballot box. 

In particular, it’s critically important that every vote is counted transparently and that election representatives in Venezuela immediately share information with independent observers as well as with the other political actors and the broader international community.  That includes publishing the detailed precinct-by-precinct tabulation of votes, which is known as the actas. 

The United States joins with other democracies in the region and across the world in supporting having democratic norms respected in Venezuela.  We are concerned at this juncture with regard to yesterday’s election that respect for democratic norms has not been followed. 

Finally, we must all work together to support aspirations of Venezuelans who showed up in such large numbers to participate in the democratic process and to choose their elected leaders. 

And with that, I will turn it back to the moderator.

MODERATOR:  Thank you very much.  Our first question is going to be from Frances Robles with The New York Times. 

QUESTION:  Hi, good morning or good afternoon.  Thanks for this call.  I guess I wanted to know, what now?  I mean, is there any offer being made?  Is there any threat being made?  Kind of what happens next?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  Well, let me just start and then I’ll throw it over to [Senior Administration Official Two].  The international community has expressed serious concerns about the lack of substantive data to back up the assertion that Nicolás Maduro won this election.  The statements from the European Union, the high representative, from foreign ministers and leaders around the world, make it clear that the international community is unwilling to accept this outcome without much greater transparency from Venezuelan electoral authorities, which they have not provided.  And we expect that the international community will begin to discuss this issue in regional venues like the Organization of American States, as well as other groupings around the world. 

We hope that there can be a more – a better outcome for the Venezuelan people, but that depends on Venezuelan authorities respecting international norms and providing access to the polling-place-by-polling-place-level data that their law requires them to share not only with opposition political parties, but also with civil society and even ordinary citizens.  [Senior Administration Official Two]?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO:  I think what we would like to see happen next is have the National Electoral Council publish the detailed precinct-level results to see if they do in fact have the receipts that can both verify and justify the electoral results that they announced last night, and we believe that they’ll be making an additional declaration today.   Where we are concerned is that the analysis that we have received from several sources indicates that the final, official announced results are at odds with how people actually voted, potentially substantially at odds with that.  And so this is really something that needs to be further examined and explored.  And really, at this juncture, the pressure is on the National Electoral Council to share those more detailed results.

If in fact the election result was as the electoral authorities announced that it is, then this should be a very simple ask and one that they would be able to show quite easily.  If there is resistance to providing that additional information, then I think that becomes highly problematic when it comes to the ability of the United States or other members of the international community to judge whether these elections were in fact inclusive and credible.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question is from Michael Stott with Financial Times.

QUESTION:  Good afternoon and thank you for doing this.  If the CNE doesn’t publish detailed precinct-level results, as seems overwhelmingly likely, will the U.S. cancel the individual sanctions licenses that it has given to Chevron and other oil and gas companies in the past year?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  Thank you very much for the question.  So we are obviously in the process of evaluating these election results, and we have to see where this comes out.  I can’t get into hypotheticals with respect to what our overall licensing policy will be.  However, that being said, it is not currently under consideration that we would retroactively alter licenses that have been – previously been given.

QUESTION:  Yeah, so this is Matt Spetalnick with Reuters.  Can you hear me okay?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  Go ahead.

QUESTION:  Okay, thank you.  So let’s – staying on the sanctions issue, is the administration teeing up any new sanctions on Maduro’s government, or individuals, that could be issued if it is ultimately determined that the Venezuelan election result was truly a sham?  And secondly, what other kind of concern does the administration have about the potential threat to the safety or security of Machado, González, or both after the election?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  Sure.  I’ll take the first part of the question and then I’ll let my colleague take the second part.  With regard to sanctions policy, we will continue to assess our sanctions policy towards Venezuela in light of overall U.S. national foreign policy interests, the actions, the non-actions that are taken by Maduro and his representatives, and the overall direction of travel as it relates to our broader U.S. bilateral engagement with Venezuela.

I would like to underscore that the – despite all the problems which we’re discussing now, the fact that Venezuela did in fact hold an election yesterday, which allowed an opposition candidate to be on the ballot and for a voting process to unfold, only came about as a result of the calibrations that we have done with our sanctions policy over the last year.  Now that we are faced with potentially a new scenario, we are going to take that into account as we map forward where we may head with respect to sanctions towards Venezuela.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO:  Well, the international community remains concerned about the harassment, arrests, and detentions that numerous members of civil society in Venezuela as well as members of the opposition have suffered over the course of the last six months.  The United States and the international community have on numerous occasions expressed our concerns that the fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution of Venezuela and other international documents should be respected by Maduro and those around him.  It would be a further insult to the rights of the Venezuelan people and the international community were Maduro and those around him to take steps to repress further leaders of the democratic opposition in Venezuela or prominent members of civil society. 

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question comes from Jennifer Hansler with CNN.  Jennifer, please go ahead.

QUESTION:  Hi, can you hear me? 

QUESTION:  Okay, great.  Thanks for doing the call.  I’m wondering on the call for the individual precinct results, was there any ultimatum about when those results need to be conveyed to the U.S. and the international community, and how is that demand being conveyed to officials in Venezuela?  Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  Well, I’ll note that the information that the public in Venezuela, civil society, opposition political parties, and numerous actors in the international community is calling for is required under Venezuelan law and should be immediately available.  This is not something that requires deep work or research.  The certificates, or actas, are generated at the precinct level immediately upon the closing of the vote, and there are multiple ways to transmit that and to make that information public.

There is already an ample amount of information available through political party poll watchers as well as civil society observers that demonstrates the tendency of the vote in Venezuela and provides opportunities for the Venezuelan people to determine what the true outcome of the election was.  In that regard, as Secretary Blinken said last night, the CNE should release this information immediately. 

MODERATOR:  Our next question comes from Michael Wilner with McClatchy.  Michael.

QUESTION:  Thanks, [Moderator].  Can you hear me?

QUESTION:  Great.  Thanks, all.  And [Senior Administration Official One], you said earlier you’re unwilling to accept – the international community is unwilling to accept this outcome without much greater transparency.  I think the question your critics are asking is:  What did you think was going to happen, right?  NSC, State, Intelligence folks have all been quite clear for months in their assessment that Maduro was not going to give up power, but you seem to be saying that the mere fact that they held an election, even if it was rigged, is a sign of progress.  So was it worth it to you to incentivize an election with sanctions relief, et cetera, that almost everyone in your own administration knew was going to be a sham? 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  So let’s think about where we were at the beginning of the Biden administration – the international consensus, that the Venezuelan Maduro regime was a blight on the region and their lack of respect for democratic norms, was receding rapidly.  Countries were sending accredited ambassadors to Caracas.  We were receiving regular requests for a change in our sanctions policy.  The flow of Venezuelan migrants out of the country was at historic highs. 

We were able to incentivize the Maduro side to allow an opposition primary in which María Corina Machado won over 2.3 million votes, demonstrating strong support for an opposition unity candidate; were able to see the opposition coalesce around a successor candidate in Edmundo González.  The Maduro side agreed to the presence of international observers, including the Carter Center.  It allowed the presence and the actions of civil society electoral observers, the taking of exit polls, and the quick count following the closing of the polls.  All of that gives us a tremendous amount of data about the will of Venezuelan voters. 

In the face of a lack of transparency by the Venezuelan CNE, you’ve seen leaders and foreign ministers from around the world make statements of concern that this process needs to be more transparent and an unwillingness to accept that Maduro would simply be ratified in his position without, at a minimum, much greater transparency.  That means that there is an international consensus moving forward that would have collapsed if it were not for the actions that we have taken.  And it is clear, at a minimum, to the Maduro side, I would argue, that a large portion of the population there is seeking change, and the numbers that they have released, at a minimum, don’t reflect the intensity of that desire for change.  So I would argue that we are in a much better position now than we were three years ago. 

MODERATOR:  Our next question comes from Raquel Krahenbuhl with Globo. 

QUESTION:  All right.  Can you guys hear me? 

MODERATOR:  Yes, we can.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much, [Moderator].  Thank you, [Senior Administration Official One].  And a couple of questions just to start with, and then I have a few others. 

MODERATOR:  Yeah, we’re going to – just because of the number of questions, we are going to limit everyone to just one, so please go ahead. 

QUESTION:  Okay.  Sounds good.  So to make clear from what you are saying and seeing – receiving from your sources as [Senior Administration Official Two] put, do you believe that Edmundo González has won this election?  And are you in contact working together with the Brazilians, with Brazil’s Celso Amorim who is in Venezuela right now?  And what do you believe Amorim, others should be doing on the ground right now?  And when you talk about the U.S. and the international community watching, and will you respond accordingly?  Would it be a coordinated response with other countries?  Thank you very much. 

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO:  Thank you for the question.  So we have been in contact with a wide range of international partners, including those both in the Western Hemisphere and beyond, throughout the election process.  Of course, that includes representatives from Brazil who have played a very important role throughout and will continue to do so.  We very much value the discussions and the opinions of our Brazilian interlocuters. 

With respect to the results of the election, our concern here is that last night the National Electoral Council of Venezuela announced a result but that does not track with data that we have received through quick count mechanisms and other sources, which suggests that the result that was announced may be at odds with how people voted.  And so that is the principal source of our concern.  That is why we are asking the Venezuelan electoral authorities to release the underlying data that supports the numbers that they have publicly announced.  Because without the capacity to see and assess the underlying data, it’s very hard for us to judge the announced result as being credible given that we are not seeing any data or analysis outside of that announced result that points in the same direction. 

MODERATOR:  Great.  Our next question is from Eric Martin with Bloomberg. 

QUESTION:  Yes, thank you very much for doing this call.  I wanted to ask about – if I can follow up on the questions of my colleagues, about consequences.  And I know that you don’t want to get too far ahead of things, but you guys have been clear-eyed, I think, about this process and what the possible outcomes could be in recent months.  And so what can you tell us about what you have gamed out or planned out in terms of various scenarios with Treasury with sanctions, with State with diplomatic pressure?  What kind of map is there for the U.S. to follow based on what many analysts believe will be the case, which is that these receipts and these actas will not be produced, there will be a lack of transparency?  And can you talk about the planning for a concrete strategy to implement given that expectation?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  We’re – I don’t think we’re going to get into the details of how we would respond, but I will note that numerous nations and institutions in the international community have already expressed concerns about the current situation.  And we will work with partners around the world – whether it’s the OAS or the G7 or many other partners – to discuss a collective way forward that continues to both encourage the kinds of changes and reforms that the Venezuelan people have called for but also exacts consequences on Maduro and those around him if they fail to move in that direction.

MODERATOR:  Our next question is with – from Juan Merlano from Caracol.

QUESTION:  Thank you very much.  I would like to follow up on the question of the failure of the strategy, because in light of the results that were known last night, everyone is saying that one of the biggest losers of the election in Venezuela is also the United States.  Do you regret your previous strategy?  For instance, having released Alex Saab so far from the date from the election, do you think that you lost an important piece of leverage over the Maduro regime?

And the other one is regarding the engagement with Colombia, because we’ve already seen a statement from Minister Murillo, but the one who called the shots is President Gustavo Petro, and he has kept silent.  Are you hoping to convince President Gustavo Petro that if the actas are not released, he join the bloc of international community that rejects the results in Venezuela?  Thank you.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO:  Great – well, thank you very much for the question.  First of all, the strategy we have for Venezuela is based on long-term strategic objectives, including moving the country towards greater democracy and prosperity.  And we understand that as we move through this strategy, we’re going to be going through a set of important milestones.  Having this election was one of them.  As has been previously alluded to on this call, we always knew there were a variety of scenarios for this election as it unfolded, and the events as they took place and are unfolding this week was certainly among those scenarios considered and for which we have been planning.

I would note that the election only took place yesterday, that the – several of the important international observation missions won’t even make their declarations and assessments until tomorrow.  And I think that you’re seeing a greater alignment between a number of key actors in the international community that is pushing the Venezuela National Electoral Council towards greater transparency.  I also think – and I believe the data will support this – that you have a – essentially a tremendous call for change that took place yesterday in Venezuela through the ballot box, and that will better position a number of political actors to engage in future negotiations with the Maduro authorities if those negotiations are required.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  I would just add that our engagement with the Maduro side produced the freedom of all wrongfully detained American citizens in Venezuela, as well as other persons incarcerated in Venezuela, and the repatriation of a notorious fugitive, Fat Leonard, who defrauded the United States military out of millions of dollars.  So those were substantial achievements in our negotiations with the other side.

MODERATOR:  Our next question comes from Nora Torres with the Miami Herald.

QUESTION:  Thank you so much for doing this.  And just to follow up on what my colleagues were asking, it seems to me like the position where we were at the beginning of the Biden administration and the position we’re in now seems to be the same place, with Maduro in power.  And I don’t know if you have seen the recent – just – reports a few minutes ago that Venezuelan general attorney just accused María Corina Machado of sabotaging the electoral system last night.  So beyond hoping or building international consensus with international partners, is there anything else the administration is doing to ensure Maduro respects the votes?  Or are there any negotiations going on right now with Maduro?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  [Senior Administration Official Two], do you want to take the beginning of that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO:  Sure, that’s great, thank you.  And thank you very much for the question.

Look, following this election, there were a number of different scenarios that could pan out.  And we’re still very much in the middle of this process.  I think that the Maduro authorities understand that if it is proven that they committed fraud in the holding of this election, then that is not good for their longer-term objectives of normalizing Venezuela’s broader diplomatic and political relations in the region.  And frankly, it’s not good for their own political position within Venezuela.  And so that all is part of, I think, the broader decision calculus here.

Moving forward, we do have a number of options and considerations that we can bring to bear on this situation as we see what the decisions are that are made by the National Electoral Council in the coming days with regard to the release of the data that has been mentioned already.  So that is really going to be, I think, a critical juncture.  I would also note that a large and growing number of countries both in this region and more broadly share the same concerns as the United States in terms of ensuring that there is sufficient evidence that this was a credible election.  And that is something that we will be very much working towards as well.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE:  Let me just add that what we’ve seen already in just the last few hours are statements of concern from the European Union, from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Colombia, the United Kingdom, and many others – that’s not an exhaustive list.  That means that the Maduro side has a stark decision to make: whether or not they want to continue isolation or to move toward a path to reintegrate the country into the international system and the community of nations. 

This is a crucial moment.  The first step that they could take is to immediately release the information and the data that they have on the polling-place-level certificates, the actas.  They have that information right now.  They can release it right now and demonstrate whether or not the assertions that they’ve made that Nicolás Maduro was elected president have any substantive backing or whether as – the other information contained in exit polls, quick counts, pre-election polling that point to a different outcome is correct.  This is a crucial moment, and we urge the Maduro side to immediately release all the information available, as required under the law in Venezuela.  And to try to shunt the blame to other actors, alleging a hack without any evidence and naming a prominent member of the opposition as responsible for that, strains credibility.

MODERATOR:  Thank you.  Our next question comes from Tracy Wilkinson with the LA Times.

QUESTION:  Hi.  Thank you.  Hi, [Senior Administration Official One]; hi, [Senior Administration Official Two].  I’m just – I understand the need to let the process play out, but I wonder if it’s not already too late in the sense that Maduro, as you said – I think you said, [Senior Administration Official One] – convened the diplomatic corps today.  So he has already been anointed in a certain respect.  So how does he come back from that?  I mean, even – whatever data the CNE comes up with, how does he say, “Oh, never mind, I didn’t win” to the world that he’s already kind of asserted his victory?  So I would just wonder if maybe you guys think you need to be moving more quickly, or if you think there’s sort of a point of no return.  Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO:  Sure, I’ll jump in to give an initial reply.  I think that the – you’re correct in that the Maduro authorities are trying to make the case that the election is over, now everyone can move along, there’s nothing to see here.  However, the fact remains that there are serious, serious questions in the broader international community as it relates to the credibility of these elections.  And we are going to continue to press to see these concerns be addressed.  We also note that the call for change that everyone witnessed in Venezuela yesterday was significant, and that suggests that there will have to be, I think, a broader reconsideration of the – of how Maduro can behave moving forward.

Lastly, I think that our deepest concern at this juncture is that the analysis and data that we have about this election, which is independent from the National Electoral Council results, is at odds with the – with the results as they were announced by the Venezuelan authorities.  And so that discrepancy, in our view, needs to be investigated and addressed before we can close the books on this election.

MODERATOR:  Thank you very much for joining us today.  That is all the time we have for questions.  As a reminder, this is a background briefing with senior administration officials, and the embargo breaks at the conclusion of the call.  Thank you very much for your time.  Have a nice day.