In a strong and united stance, ten Latin American governments and the United States have issued a joint statement categorically rejecting the recent decision by Venezuela's supreme court to confirm Nicolás Maduro's controversial claim of winning re-election. The court's verdict, widely questioned internationally, has raised concerns about the legitimacy of Maduro's victory. The governments of Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and the US have called for an impartial and independent audit of the vote, expressing profound concern over human rights violations committed during Maduro's post-election crackdown.

The joint statement, published on Friday, reflects a remarkable consensus as it is supported not only by conservative governments, traditionally critical of Maduro's socialist movement, but also by the administrations of Chile's progressive president, Gabriel Boric, and Guatemala's center-left leader, Bernardo Arévalo. Both leaders have vehemently denounced Maduro's regime and accused it of falsifying elections.

"We are dealing with a dictatorship that falsifies elections," stated President Boric, rejecting any notion that Maduro's regime can be considered left-wing. President Arévalo took to Twitter affirming, "The Maduro regime is not democratic, and we do not recognize its fraud."

The condemnation was further amplified by the United States, which labeled the court ruling as lacking all credibility due to overwhelming evidence suggesting that Maduro's rival, Edmundo González, received the most votes in the July 28 election. Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the US State Department, emphasized that continued fraudulent claims of victory by Maduro would only deepen the ongoing crisis.

Adding to the international chorus, the European Union's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, declared that its member states would not recognize Maduro's re-election until a verifiable result is presented. Brazil and Colombia, both historically aligned with the leftist movement that Maduro inherited from Hugo Chávez, have also refrained from recognizing his victory without access to detailed voting tallies. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian politician Gustavo Petro are expected to issue a joint statement later, exploring potential ways of defusing the escalating crisis.

Furthermore, Mexico's President, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, expressed his own reservations about recognizing the official result, stating that he too wanted to see detailed voting tallies before taking any decision.

Maduro and his allies have staunchly rejected the international criticism, with Venezuela's foreign minister, Yván Gil, labeling President Boric as the "laughingstock" of Latin America and accusing him of being a "submissive pawn of North American imperialism." Despite the growing rejection from various Latin American governments and international bodies, Maduro, with the backing of Venezuela's military as well as the governments of Russia and China, is set to be sworn in for his third six-year term as president on January 10.

In the wake of this joint statement and the increasing demands for an independent audit, it remains to be seen how Maduro's regime will respond and whether any diplomatic efforts can help alleviate the ongoing crisis in Venezuela.