CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro must permit a "political transition," says Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. 

According to the opposition, González Urrutia won the recent elections, but the electoral council declared Maduro the winner on Sunday, July 28. The electoral council reported that Maduro received 52 percent of the votes. 

Since then, thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the election results. The government has responded with force. At least 24 people have died, and several thousand have been arrested. 

"I appeal to Nicolás Maduro: respect the will of the Venezuelan people. You are playing with the lives of millions of your countrymen," González Urrutia said in a video recording shared on social media. 

"If there is no political solution, the economy will suffer," said the opposition leader. "Without a political transition in Venezuela, there is no chance we can attract meaningful investments."