MIAMI (AFP) – The head of the Organization of American States urged Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday to concede defeat in Venezuela's presidential election or call for a new, more transparent vote, raising international questions about the results of an election that declared the incumbent president the winner of a vote that has eluded many countries.

“It is necessary to know that Maduro accepts the records kept by the opposition and thus accepts his electoral defeat,” Luis Almagro's office said in its first statement on the electoral process that took place on Sunday in Venezuela.

“If we do not do so, it will be necessary to hold new elections,” he added, but this time with international observers from the European Union and the Organization of American States and new electoral authorities “so that the margin of institutional irregularities that have plagued this process is reduced,” the continental organization's general secretariat noted in a press release.

The OAS condemnation comes two days after the election and after Venezuela's National Electoral Council on Monday formally declared Maduro president, his second re-election, after results were announced Sunday evening that gave the president an electoral victory with 51 percent of the vote compared to 44 percent for opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.

Shortly after Almagro’s office’s statement, the United States again criticized the lack of transparency in the process and asked the South American country’s electoral authorities to release the results. He also said he was reviewing information shared by civil society organizations and reports from international observers.

“We continue to call on Venezuela’s electoral authorities to release full, transparent, and detailed results of the vote, including by polling station,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said Tuesday. “There are clear indications that the electoral results announced by the Venezuelan National Electoral Council do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed at the ballot box.”

The Venezuelan government allowed only a handful of international observers to watch the election, including a small delegation from the United Nations and the Carter Center, a U.S. organization that works to promote democracy.

Several Latin American countries, including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Uruguay, have criticized the lack of transparency in the electoral process that declared Maduro president, angering the Venezuelan government, which ordered the repatriation of all its diplomatic personnel in those countries and asked them to do the same with their own personnel in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan opposition said it had no knowledge of the electoral body's announcement of Maduro's victory and had documents and minutes proving that Gonzalez was the elected president.

For some experts, it is important for the opposition to show these records to confirm the validity of its claims.

“It’s really important to reinforce how people see this and how they respond to it,” said Caleb McCary, a Venezuela expert who has met Maduro in the past and is now vice president of Pax Sapiens, a nonprofit focused on global issues.

At a virtual conference on Venezuela organized by the Washington Atlantic Council think tank, McCurry said electoral authorities should publish data for each electoral district, and that the Venezuelan opposition should go to electoral authorities with the minutes that the electoral records allegedly show.

Panama was the first to announce that it would withdraw its diplomatic staff in Caracas and suspend relations with Venezuela, sparking further condemnation from the region and a strong response from Maduro.

Although Maduro did not allow his observers to attend the elections, the European Union said it followed the process closely, and that according to “credible” reports from national and international observers, there were “numerous failures and irregularities.”

“The election results have not been verified and cannot be considered representative of the will of the Venezuelan people until all official records of polling stations are published and verified,” said EU High Representative Josep Borrell.

Experts consulted by the Associated Press say it is imperative that the international community raise its voice to pressure Maduro.

“For some countries, like the United States, it will be sanctions and, for most, pressure on Maduro to release the vote counts for an audit,” said Ryan Berg, director of the Americas Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “Until then, there will be a cloud of suspicion hanging over his head and he will remain an international pariah.”

At the request of Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States will hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to analyze the situation in Venezuela, which years ago unilaterally decided to withdraw from the organization.

Almagro's office stressed that Maduro must either concede defeat or call new elections “taking into account that the opposition campaign leadership has already presented the minutes that would have won the elections” and the ruling party – including the electoral authorities – added: “He was unable to present the minutes that would have won, which would be laughable and pathetic at this point if it were not so tragic.”

The official statement was issued on the same day that Almagro received a report from the Organization of American States' Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation on the elections in Venezuela.

The Secretary-General's office noted that “the full evidence of fraudulent management of electoral results was applied in Venezuela on Sunday evening.” He said: “There was an electoral process without guarantees, and without mechanisms and procedures to implement those guarantees.”

Meanwhile, the Carter Center has asked electoral authorities to immediately publish transcripts of all voting tables, saying this information is “essential” for it to be able to make its assessment of the elections and “essential for the Venezuelan people.”

The UN delegation has not yet commented, and its reports are usually confidential.