Brazil, Colombia and Mexico are pushing for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to meet the opposition candidate in last week's disputed election, a diplomatic source told Reuters on Friday, as more Western governments reject Maduro's claim to victory.
Fresh protests in Venezuela as anger grows over controversial election result | BBC News
The three left-wing Latin American countries want Maduro and Edmundo Gonzalez to meet without popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who led Gonzalez's campaign after she was barred from office, the source said.
Venezuela's electoral authority, which critics say favors the ruling socialists, declared Maduro the winner of Sunday's election, saying on Monday that he had won 51% of the vote, compared to 46% for Gonzalez.
The president of the electoral body CNE on Friday reaffirmed that Maduro had achieved a similar victory, saying that 97% of the votes had now been counted.
