U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and U.S. Rick Scott led a long list of bipartisan lawmakers in accusing Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro of stealing Sunday’s presidential election, urging the U.S. and other world leaders to reject the sham results of “the criminal and illegitimate Maduro narco-regime.”
“To no one’s surprise, dictator Nicolás Maduro has once again stolen a presidential election,” the lawmakers said . “However, what the narco-regime will never steal is the Venezuelan people’s desire to return to democracy and live in freedom after decades of tyranny.”
Venezuela faced a political standstill Monday after Maduro and the country's main opposition coalition . Maduro considers the results of the election a settled matter. But the campaign of has disputed the results released by the ruling party-loyal National Electoral Council, and it is setting up a fight over the vote tallies of each of the 30,000 voting machines the electoral body was meant to release after polls closed Sunday.
The National Electoral Council said Maduro secured 51% of the vote while González garnered 44%. The electoral body, however, did not release the tallies from any machine, promising early Monday only to do so in the “coming hours,” hampering the ability to verify the results.
READ MORE: 'They won't get away with it.' Venezuelans in South Florida alert U.S. to 'huge' vote fraud
“We must prioritize uniting the free world in rejecting these sham election results and securing the release of the more than 300 Venezuelans that remain arbitrarily detained in torture centers as political prisoners,” wrote the lawmakers in a joint statement.
“The Maduro dictatorship is experiencing an internal fracture, and members of the dictatorship know their status quo, which is filled with incompetence, is no longer sustainable,” said the lawmakers. “There is massive discontent in the streets of Venezuela, and everyday citizens have stood in support of opposition leaders María Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez.
“Let there be no doubt: the countries and international organizations backing this fraud of unimaginable proportions must be held accountable, as should members of the narco-regime and its ‘National Electoral Council’,” the lawmakers said
In addition to Rubio and Scott, the other lawmakers signing on to the joint statement were U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, R-La., John Kennedy, R-La., Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Peter Welch, D-Vermont, Pete Ricketts, R-Nebraska, John Cornyn, R-Tex., Tim Scott, R-S.C. House lawmakers included U.S. Reps. Carlos Giménez, R-Miami, Jenniffer González-Colón, R-P.R., María Elvira Salazar, R-Miami, Mario Díaz-Balart, R-Miami and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.
The United States must send a strong and resounding message to Maduro. You cannot steal the election and expect nothing to happen!
— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar)
Scott also sent President Biden Monday criticizing his administration strengthening Maduro’s power when it “foolishly provided him the exact thing he needed, sanctions relief in exchange for a promise of a fair election—something we all knew he would never deliver.”
“It is time to acknowledge that your deal with a dictator was a disaster and immediately reimpose sanctions on Maduro and his thugs,” wrote Scott.
The Venezuelan autocracy ran a fraudulent election. Maduro has lost and the election was never free or fair.
— Rep. Frederica Wilson (@RepWilson)
Maduro must be held accountable and I stand with the Venezuelan people in their fight for democracy and freedom.
U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Miami Gardens, took to her “X” account (formerly Twitter), to denounce Maduro’s “fraudulent election.”
“The Venezuelan autocracy ran a fraudulent election,” she wrote. “Maduro has lost and the election was never free or fair. Maduro must be held accountable and I stand with the Venezuelan people in their fight for democracy and freedom.”
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried issued a statement calling on the Biden and other world leaders “to demand transparency and accountability for Maduro and his administration — starting with an internationally supervised recount.”
Several foreign governments, including the U.S. and the European Union, held off recognizing the election results.
Gabriel Boric, the leftist leader of Chile, called the results “difficult to believe,” while U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington had “serious concerns" that the announced tally did not reflect the actual votes or the will of the people.
In response to criticism from other governments, Maduro’s foreign affairs ministry announced it would recall its diplomatic personnel from seven countries in the Americas, including Panama, Argentina and Chile. Foreign Minister Yvan Gil asked the governments of those countries to do the same with their personnel in Venezuela.
He did not explain what would happen to the staff members of opposition leader , including her campaign manager, who have sheltered for months in the Argentinian embassy in Caracas after authorities issued arrest warrants against them.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
