Venezuelan opposition leader urges Colombia’s president to recognize her faction’s electoral victory

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is urging Colombia’s president to be decisive and recognize her faction’s victory during her country’s contested July presidential election. Machado’s message to President Gustavo Petro, an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, came Tuesday during a virtual address she gave to Colombia’s Senate. The speech was part of an effort to increase international pressure on Maduro to leave office in January. Machado said “silence is no longer an option” for Petro and asked for his government’s support for a “constructive negotiation” that would lead to a transition of power in Venezuela.