The electoral process in Venezuela continues, with more and more questions about its legitimacy and transparency. In the last hours, Brazil and Colombia, through their diplomatic channels, expressed their concern about the impediments of anti-Chavismo in nominating their candidates. In addition to Colombia and Brazil, seven other countries in the region also spoke along the same lines the day before through a statement. The countries received a forceful response from Venezuela, stating that they are comments “loaded with profound lack of knowledge and ignorance.”
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The registration process of candidates for the presidential elections in Venezuela has ended. María Corina Machado, who heads the opposition in the country, claimed that there was an indiscriminate impediment to the registration of her candidate, Corina Yoris, after Machado had her political inability confirmed.
The obstacles due to the non-registration of Yoris drew criticism and concern from several Latin American countries. The last ones arrived from Brasilia and Bogotá.
The Brazilian Government expressed its concern on Tuesday about the development of the electoral process. He said that he is still looking forward to these elections because they have given way to a candidate from the same Unitary Platform, but not the one they chose.
“It is noted that the candidate (Corina Yoris) nominated by the Unitary Platform, an opposition political force, about which there were no judicial decisions, was prevented from registering, which is not compatible with the Barbados agreements. To date, the impediment has not been the subject of any official explanation,” Brazil says in a statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Eleven candidates linked to opposition currents, the document states, managed to register. But he criticizes that the registration of the current governor of Zulia and also a member of the Platform, Edmundo González Urrutia, has been accepted.
Demand for electoral guarantees
Colombia joins Brazil's concern. Country that also sent a statement to the Venezuelan authorities with an emphatic call for compliance with the Barbados Agreement.
Both Brazil and Colombia refer to that agreement signed between the Government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition to guarantee free and democratic elections in the July elections of this year, in exchange for sanctions relief from the United States.
However, since January, several arrests of opposition leaders and their work team have been recorded. Furthermore, after the ratification of the impediment of María Corina Machado, winner of the internal opposition elections, anti-Chavismo decided to elect Corina Yoris as its representative. However, they reported that they could not register her as their candidate, denouncing that access to the application system was never allowed due to an alleged computer failure.
However, this Tuesday, March 26, the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela reported the last-minute registration of Edmundo González Urrutia. A nomination that was not accepted by Machado and he criticized his registration because the nominee was Yoris and not González.
Although Colombia reiterates its absolute respect for the sovereignty and autonomy of the Venezuelan people, it is also emphatic about “the need for a free, fair and competitive presidential electoral process.” The same demand that Brazil makes and to which the European Union joined. In addition, the governments of the Argentine Republic, the Republic of Costa Rica, the Republic of Ecuador, the Republic of Guatemala, the Republic of Paraguay, the Republic of Peru and the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, also expressed their “serious concern” about the “persistent impediments in the registration of presidential candidates” through a statement.
Venezuela describes the statements as “interference”
The Venezuelan response was swift and forceful: total repudiation of the comments of both nations. The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry criticized “the gray and interfering statement,” in reference to that of Brazil, “which appears to have been drafted from the United States Department of State, where comments loaded with profound ignorance and ignorance about the political reality of Venezuela are issued. ”.
The Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Relations of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela repudiates the gray and interfering statement, drafted by officials of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, which appears to have been dictated from the Department of State of the… pic.twitter.com/13G89wkeky
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) March 26, 2024
Foreign Minister Yvan Gil also criticized the position of the European Union. He questioned that the bloc “that supported Guaidó's farce, which has disrespected our institutions and violated all the principles of International Law,” is now “sinking again into the mud of interventionism.”
According to the Maduro Government, “it has maintained faithful conduct to the principles that govern diplomacy and friendly relations with Brazil, under no circumstances does it or will it issue value judgments about the judicial or political processes that occur in that country.” Therefore, they ask for the same action from the Government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whom they thank for his firm stance against the United States blockade.
Finally, Venezuela says that all guarantees have been met in all electoral processes in the last 25 years.
With Efe and local media
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