CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov 20, (AP): The US government recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González as the "president-elect” of the South American country on Tuesday, months after President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won the July election. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recognized González in a post on X in which he also demanded "respect for the will” of Venezuelan voters.

The administration of US President Joe Biden previously said González earned the most votes in the disputed July 28 election but it had fallen short of acknowledging him as president-elect. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, declared Maduro the election winner hours after polls closed.

Unlike previous presidential elections, electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts. But the opposition coalition collected tally sheets from 80% of the nation’s electronic voting machines and posted them online. González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said the voting records showed the former diplomat won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

"We deeply appreciate the recognition of the sovereign will of all Venezuelans,” González said in a post on X shortly after Blinken's statement Tuesday. "This gesture honors the desire for change of our people and the civic feat that we carried out together on July 28.” González left Venezuela in September for exile in Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with an investigation into the publishing of the vote tally sheets.

Venezuela's Foreign Minister Yván Gil responded to Blinken's comment with personal attacks. "In the last days of his government, he should dedicate himself to reflecting on his failures, getting rid of imperial and colonial complexes and going to write the memoirs of how the Bolivarian Revolution made him bite the dust of defeat, just like his predecessors," Gil said of Blinken in a statement, which did not mention election results.