WASHINGTON, Aug 23 (AFP) - US officials on Monday accepted results of a referendum that failed to recall Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and called on the government and opposition to reconcile their differences.
Chavez won the August 15 referendum with more than 59 percent of the vote, against nearly 41 percent for the opposition, according to official figures.
The opposition claimed the vote had been was rigged, but a spot audit by election authorities convinced Carter Center and Organization of American States observers there was no evidence of fraud.
Opposition leaders on Monday however still refused to recognize Chavez's victory.
"In our view, the results of that audit are consistent with the results announced by (Venezuela's) National Electoral Council," said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
Ereli congratulated "the people of Venezuela for their peaceful civic participation in this process and their demonstrated commitment to democracy," as well as the OAS and Carter Center for their "important contribution" to the process.
"There were charges of election fraud," Ereli said. "In order to address those charges of election fraud, an audit was conducted. The audit did not find any basis to call into doubt the results of the elections."
Now that the recall effort is over, it is "important for people to come together and to move forward, consistent with democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela," Ereli said.
If members of the coalition opposed to Chavez have "outstanding concerns," they should "present those concerns, charges of fraud, whatever they may be," to OAS officials.
The US position is that "reconciliation is important," he said.
"And that if the opposition does have concerns, if they do have evidence -- additional evidence that has not been considered, that has not been weighed or taken into account -- then they need to present that.
"Otherwise, it's time to move on," he said.