WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday accepted as legitimate preliminary results of Venezuela`s weekend recall referendum, belatedly acknowledging the victory in the polls of longtime US irritant President Hugo Chavez.
The State Department, 24 hours after refusing to endorse similar a assessment by international election monitors, also called on all Venezuelans to embrace national reconciliation, including the embittered opposition which has claimed the vote was marred by widespread fraud.
"We ... join the Group of Friends of Venezuela in acknowledging the preliminary results of the referendum and noting that they show that President Chavez received the support of the majority of voters," deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said.
"The people of Venezuela have spoken," he told reporters. "This is about resolving a political crisis, an issue that divided the people of Venezuela. The people of Venezuela have spoken and for our part, we`re prepared to move on."
"We believe that now -- with this referendum having been taken and the preliminary results being endorsed by a variety of groups -- it is up to the Venezuelan people and government to move forward," Ereli said.
He congratulated the people of Venezuela for the large turnout and their peaceful conduct during the voting process but declined congratulate Chavez himself, who took 58 percent of the votes in Sunday`s recall referendum, easily defeating the attempt to revoke his mandate.
Ereli also repeated US calls for Venezuelan election officials to promptly, thoroughly and transparently investigate the opposition`s fraud charges, saying it was important for credibility of the polls for an audit of the results.
A senior State Department official said later that despite Washington`s differences with Chavez, the United States was prepared "to engage with the government in light of the preliminary results of this referendum."
Earlier Tuesday in Caracas, some elements of the opposition showed no signs of heeding calls for national reconciliation, demanding a new referendum on Chavez`s mandate while others recognized his victory.
Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro and opponent of the US-led war in Iraq, has been a thorn in Washington`s side since coming to power.
He has accused the United States of funding the campaign to unseat him, and insists that Washington was behind a short-lived coup in April 2002 during which he was ousted for two days.
Venezuela is the world`s fifth biggest crude exporter, and supplies about 15 percent of the oil imported by the United States.