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Demonstrators clash with police during a protest against Maduro's election in Caracas after Venezuela's presidential election | AFP | Getty Images

On August 15, US President Biden said he supported holding new elections in Venezuela, an idea previously proposed by Brazilian President Lula.

Both the ruling and opposition parties in Venezuela have claimed victory in the July 28 national election. The political stalemate has lasted for more than two weeks, during which there have been several large-scale protests.

Lula suggested that Venezuela's current President Nicolas Maduro, who claimed he had been re-elected, could call new elections with international observers as a solution to the country's political crisis. The US government immediately rejected Maduro's victory claim and claimed that there was evidence that the opposition won the election.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, asked if he supported new elections in Venezuela, Biden said: "I do."

A National Security Council spokesman later said Biden "was talking about Maduro and his dishonest election on July 28th," but did not fully retract Biden's comments.

The spokesman stressed that it was "very clear" that Venezuelan opposition candidate Gonzalez won the election.

US President Biden

A U.S. official said in a subsequent statement that the U.S. government's position has not changed and the vast majority of countries in the region are demanding that Maduro release the true election records and acknowledge his defeat.

New elections are one of several solutions proposed by the international community to Venezuela's political deadlock, but so far none of those proposals have been endorsed by Maduro or his allied opposition rivals.

Maduro reportedly rejected Biden and Lula's proposal for a re-election, claiming that Venezuela's election would have been uncontested without the involvement of the United States and Brazil.

“I am absolutely against the United States trying to become the electoral authority in Venezuela,” Maduro said on state television. “Biden’s statement is an interference in Venezuela’s internal affairs.”

Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corinna Machado also ruled out the Biden and Lula proposals.

“The elections have already happened,” Machado told journalists in Argentina and Chile in a video call late Thursday. “Maduro must be made aware that the cost of his stay is increasing every day.”

In addition to the possibility of new elections, Brazilian President Lula has said that forming a "coalition government" could be another possible solution for Venezuela.

As the largest country in South America, Brazilian President Lula tried to influence the election results in Venezuela

"If Maduro had any political common sense, he could tell the Venezuelan people that maybe a nonpartisan electoral council could be convened to hold new elections," Lula said in a radio interview.

The Brazilian president said he still did not recognize Maduro as the winner of the vote and that his government must release the results of the vote, which have not yet been announced, echoing calls from countries around the world over the past two weeks.

“Maduro knows that he owes Brazil and the world an explanation,” Lula said.

Lula and Colombian President Gustavo Petro spoke by phone on Wednesday as part of efforts to find a solution to the Venezuelan crisis, but details of the conversation were not released.

Petro Petro said on social media on Thursday that Venezuela's ruling party and opposition could temporarily swap power, a political arrangement that Colombia used for 16 years in the 20th century.

"The political solution for Venezuela depends on Nicolas Maduro, who has brought peace and prosperity to the country," Petro said, adding that a political agreement is the best option and it depends on Venezuelans.

Petro reestablished trade and diplomatic relations with Venezuela after taking office in 2022, and he also called on the United States to lift all sanctions on Venezuela.

Venezuela's current president Maduro claims to have been re-elected

Latin American leaders will discuss the Venezuela crisis this weekend when many will attend the inauguration of the country's new president in the Dominican Republic, Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino said at his weekly news conference on Thursday.

Speaking to the Brazilian Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, Lula's top foreign policy adviser Celso Amorim said Brazil has not formally proposed new elections in Venezuela.

Conservative senators at the hearing criticized Lula's government for its weak stance in supporting Maduro and asked what Brazilian authorities had done for the jailed Venezuelan opposition leader.

Amorim said Brazil had offered to send a plane to pick up six opposition members who had sought asylum at the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela, which is now hosted by Brazil and flies the Brazilian flag since Venezuela severed ties with Argentina.

On July 29, Venezuela's electoral authorities announced that Maduro had won 51% of the votes, qualifying for re-election. The full votes have not yet been disclosed, but opposition statistics posted on a public website showed Gonzalez had won 67% of the votes.

Venezuela is located in the northern part of South America, across the sea from the United States.

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