Blinken speaks with Venezuelan opposition's 'president-elect'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Monday with the Venezuelan opposition figure whom Washington claims defeated strongman Nicolas Maduro in the widely disputed July presidential election.

Blinken conferred with the exiled candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado in a show of support, the State Department said.

The call comes less than two weeks before the next Venezuelan presidential term begins on January 10.

Demonstrations broke out across the oil-rich but troubled country after Maduro was proclaimed the winner of the July 28 election, despite results published by the opposition appearing to show their candidate won by a landslide.

Only a handful of countries, including Venezuelan ally Russia, have recognized Maduro as the winner.

The United States, while consistently saying that Gonzalez Urrutia had won more votes than Maduro, began referring to him as "president-elect" only in late November.

"Blinken spoke today with President-elect Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia and Maria Corina Machado, leaders of Venezuela's democratic opposition," the State Department said Monday.

He "reaffirmed the United States' commitment to supporting the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed at the ballot box, the peaceful restoration of democracy in Venezuela, and the release of all unjustly detained political prisoners," it added.

Blinken's call came as a human rights group said Venezuelans jailed following the protests that erupted with Maduro's disputed re-election endure physical and psychological torture, long stints in isolation, and food crawling with insects.

The protests left 27 dead, 200 injured and more than 2,400 under arrest. Three people have died in prison, according to the report.

Conditions in Venezuelan prisons have worsened since these people were locked up, the activists said.

Maduro, who has led the South American nation since 2013, is accused of leading a harshly repressive leftist regime, with a systematic crackdown on the opposition.

His government insists the post-election arrests and jailings were carried out with due process and in November started reviews that have led to the release of more than 900 prisoners, including all minors arrested in the post-election unrest.

A group called the Committee of Relatives and Friends of Freedom for Political Prisoners released Monday a report on prison conditions for these people and longer-held detainees, based on accounts from former prisoners.

"Besides being arbitrarily detained and unjustly imprisoned, one must add exponential suffering due to harsh and inhumane prison conditions they are subjected to," the report said.

Ex-detainees said they suffered torture, isolation and the inability to see relatives or lawyers, the report states.

Prisoners have reported being given food that is spoiled, tainted with insects or undercooked. Portions are tiny, causing weight loss and stomach illnesses, the report said.

So in many cases prisoners' families take food to them, often having to travel to jails in cities far from their homes.

The opposition, tipped by polls for an easy win, published detailed polling-station-level results that showed Gonzalez Urrutia winning by a landslide.

Protests have largely petered out since September, when Gonzalez Urrutia went into exile in Spain after a warrant was issued for his arrest.

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