Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay rejected this Friday (23) the announcement by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela, controlled by Chavismo, which certified the victory of dictator Nicolás Maduro in the elections of July 28.
In a joint statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Argentinathe governments of the 11 countries doubted “the alleged verification of the results of the electoral process of July 28, issued by the Venezuelan Chavista National Electoral Council (CNE), which intends to validate the unfounded results issued by the electoral body”.
“Our countries had already expressed repudiation of the validity of the CNE’s declaration, after opposition representatives were denied access to the official count, the non-disclosure of the official count and the subsequent refusal to carry out an impartial and independent audit of all of them,” they added.
In line with this argument, they recalled that “the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela warned about the lack of independence and impartiality of both institutions, both the CNE and the TSJ”.
“The undersigned countries reiterate that only an impartial and independent audit of the votes, which evaluates all records, will guarantee respect for the sovereign will of the people and democracy in Venezuela. Like the rest of the international democratic community, we will continue to insist on respect for the sovereign expression of the Venezuelan people, who spoke peacefully and vigorously on July 28,” they emphasized.
Likewise, they expressed deep concern and rejection of the “human rights violations carried out against citizens who peacefully demand respect for citizens’ votes and the restoration of democracy.”
The president of the TSJ, Chavista Caryslia Rodríguez, who led the judicial review of the results, announced this Thursday (22) that the Electoral Chamber validated the results of the July 28 elections issued by the CNE.
The largest Venezuelan opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), claims that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won the presidential election by a wide margin and released 83.5% of the electoral records to reinforce its claim, which was supported by several countries and national and international organizations.
The CNE declared Maduro the winner without having released the disaggregated results, a point that was included in the race schedule, which was demanded by a large part of the international community.
Brazil did not sign the statement and has not yet commented on the Venezuelan Supreme Court’s decision.
Also this Friday, the United States government considered that the ratification by the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice of Nicolás Maduro’s victory in the presidential elections of July 28 “has no credibility”.
“This resolution lacks any credibility given the overwhelming evidence that González received the majority of votes,” the State Department said in a statement, referring to PUD representative Edmundo González.
The statement highlighted that the “publicly available and independently verified minutes show that Venezuelan voters elected Edmundo González as their future leader.”
“The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected. Now is the time for Venezuelan parties to start talking about a peaceful and respectful transition, in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law and the wishes of the Venezuelan people,” the State Department said. “The United States and the international community will continue to advocate for Venezuelan voters, whose will and rights have been continually undermined since July 28. We stand ready to support an inclusive Venezuelan-led process to restore democratic norms,” the State Department concluded.
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