The Supreme Court in Venezuela backs President Nicolás Maduro's claim that he won the election held on July 28.
Maduro thanks the court, described by outsiders as loyal to his regime, for the decision.
Historic and powerful, says Maduro during a visit to the coastal city of La Guaira.
The court also states that the vote counts published online by the opposition, showing that Maduro lost the election by a large margin to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, are forged.
Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia turned to the Supreme Court on Thursday in a post on the social media platform X.
"To the court's judges: no decision will replace the people's will. The country and the world know about your partiality and, as a result, your inability to resolve this conflict", he wrote, adding:
"Your decision will only make the crisis worse."
He again demands that the country's election commission, but with international observers, review the election result.
According to the opposition, protocols collected directly from over 80 percent of the polling stations show that their candidate Edmundo González Urrutia won the election with a significant majority.
Nicolás Maduro portrays the opposition's claims of winning the election as a coup attempt and has sworn to crush all resistance. Arrest warrants have been issued against opposition leaders González Urrutia and María Corina Machado.
The opposition, several Latin American countries, and the USA demand that Venezuela present a detailed and verifiable election result. The regime has refused, citing that it is impossible. President Maduro has claimed that the electoral authority has been hacked.
Sources: Efe, El País, and others.
