Musk accepts challenge to fight Venezuela's Maduro

BOGOTA, Colombia

Elon Musk accepted a challenge Wednesday from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to fight after the billionaire repeatedly attacked the president’s “massive election fraud” in Sunday's elections and called Maduro a “dictator” on X.

After Maduro was formally declared winner of a controversial election by the government-controlled electoral authority, Musk cited a news article on Monday that quoted Argentine President Javier Milei telling Maduro that Argentina would not “recognize another fraud” and that he hoped the Venezuelan Armed Forces would “defend democracy and the popular will.”

In another X post, the 53-year-old owner of X and Tesla referred to the election results in Venezuela as fraudulent.

Maduro responded on national television and challenged Musk to hand-to-hand combat.

“Do you want to fight? Let's do it. Elon Musk, I'm ready,” Maduro said Monday. “I’m not afraid of you, Elon Musk. Let's fight, wherever you want.” Maduro also called Musk an “arch-enemy” and a “murderer.”

In accepting the challenge, Musk said: “If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars,” in reference to his space rocket company, SpaceX.

Musk posted a poll on X where his followers could vote on who they think would win the fight.

Musk compared Maduro to a donkey and shared criticisms of other Latin American leaders, including El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.

The billionaire suggested that the US could become like Venezuela if the Democratic Party wins the American presidential election in November.

Doubts about the transparency of the Venezuelan electoral process have generated protests across the country that have left 11 dead and nearly 700 detained by security forces.

The US and more than 10 Latin American countries have called for guarantees in the electoral process of Venezuela.

US Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols, in remarks at an Organization of American States (OAS) meeting Wednesday, said Maduro had overwhelmingly lost to Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. He endorsed vote tallies released by the opposition as Venezuela's electoral authority has failed to release detailed results.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and US President Joe Biden published a statement Tuesday reiterating that "complete, transparent and detailed data on the voting in the polling stations should be released immediately."

The OAS also exerted pressure on Maduro to be transparent with the results.