The European Union could not recognise Venezuela's election result until all votes were counted and records provided, amid international concerns over the integrity of the vote, foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said.
The election authority in Venezuela said President Nicolas Maduro had won a third term in office on Sunday with 51% of the vote to extend a quarter-century of socialist rule, despite exit polls that pointed to an opposition win.
Mr Borrell said the electoral commission had announced the vote results on the basis of 80% of ballots counted, while the Venezuelan opposition had published very different results.
"That is an additional reason for not recognising the results until they will be fully and independently verified," he told reporters during a visit to Vietnam.
The members of the 27-nation bloc will decide on possible next steps only after the full results are made available, he added.
Protesters took to the streets in Venezuela yesterday, demanding that Mr Maduro acknowledge he lost the election, as a major international observer concluded the vote was undemocratic.
The US-based Carter Center, which observed the vote, said late yesterday the election could not be considered democratic as it "did not meet international standards of electoral integrity".
The electoral authority's failure to publish disaggregated results amounts to a "serious breach," it added, outlining what it determined to be a deeply flawed process from start to finish.
The protests, which the government denounced as an attempted "coup", began on Monday.
The opposition, which considers the election body to be in the pocket of a dictatorial government, says its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez had more than twice as many votes as Mr Maduro based on the 90% of vote tallies it has been able to access.
At least 11 people have been killed in different parts of the country since the election in incidents related to the count or associated protests, according to rights group Foro Penal.
Many countries have called on Venezuela to make the vote tally public and US sources said Washington was considering fresh sanctions on individuals linked to the election unless there was greater transparency.
Both Mr Maduro and his top legislative ally have accused Mr Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado of fomenting violence in the aftermath of the vote.
In a winding speech broadcast on state television, Mr Maduro declared that opposition protesters had battered civilians and started fires, demanding that Mr Gonzalez answer for them.
"Respond to that you coward!" Mr Maduro shouted, after saying both Mr Gonzalez and Ms Machado should be held accountable.
Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the Congress for Mr Maduro's ruling socialists, was more direct in a speech earlier in the day, insisting that both opposition figures must be arrested for the crimes of the protesters.
"Their bosses should go to prison," he told politicians, accusing Mr Gonzalez of leading a "fascist conspiracy."
Costa Rica said it was prepared to give political asylum to Ms Machado and Mr Gonzalez. On X, Ms Machado thanked the government but said her priority was to "continue this struggle" from Venezuela.
The embattled Mr Maduro, who also called for more marches, said in his speech that his government was reaching out to both China and Russia for help with alleged attacks on the electoral authority's systems, blaming billionaire Elon Musk for them without presenting evidence.
Echoing other officials, Mr Maduro's defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino, declared that there was a "coup in progress" but insisted that the country's armed forces would help defeat it.
The 61-year-old president is a former union leader and foreign minister who won an election after former President Hugo Chavez's death in 2013.
Mr Maduro was re-elected in 2018 in a vote the opposition says was fraudulent.
He has presided over an economic collapse and a mass exodus of Venezuelans, while US and EU sanctions have crippled an already struggling oil industry.
A win by Mr Maduro could spur more migration from Venezuela, once the continent's wealthiest country, which in recent years has seen a third of its population leave.
'Fraud by the regime'
Opposition leader Ms Machado was barred from running in the election but spearheaded Mr Gonzalez's campaign.
Yesterday, for the first time, she accused Mr Maduro's government of a corrupt vote count.
"What we are fighting here is a fraud by the regime," Ms Machado said, while urging peaceful protest.
A large crowd, many waving Venezuelan flags, chanted: "We are not afraid!"
The opposition has long denounced obstacles over candidate registrations, detentions of opposition members and even a confusing ballot lay-out.
But the opposition's options going forward appear limited given the military has shown no sign it will break from its long-standing support for Mr Maduro and previous cycles of anti-government protests and sanctions have failed to dislodge him.
Opposition protesters marched in several cities yesterday. In some locations Reuters witnesses saw protesters attacked by security forces. Many stores remained closed.
At pro-Maduro demonstrations, meanwhile, marchers danced and motorcycle-riding supporters revved their engines, insisting the election is over.
In Coro, capital of Falcon state, on the Caribbean coast, protesters cheered when they tore down a statue of Chavez, Mr Maduro's mentor who ruled from 1999-2013.
