Maduro lashes out at EU and sees it as a “shame” that it doubts his victory in Venezuela | El Diario Vasco

Nicolás Maduro has described the attitude of the European Union and its diplomatic chief, Josep Borrell, as a “shame” after the EU refused to validate the electoral data of last July 28 in Venezuela. The EU’s statement follows those issued by seven of its member countries, including Spain, which demand the full publication of the minutes of the elections.

Brussels notes that the victory of the Chavista leader cannot be recognised “without evidence to support it”, but goes a little further by highlighting that the minutes collected by the opposition do “indicate” that Edmundo González Urrutia, the rival candidate, a member of the Democratic Unitary Platform, “appears to be the winner of the presidential elections by a significant majority”.

In this regard, González has thanked “the European Union’s call to respect the fundamental rights of Venezuelans and its request for an independent verification of the results, based on the electoral voting records that we have presented and that prove our victory,” the opposition leader wrote in X.

Doubts about credibility

The Twenty-Seven regret that the delay of the National Electoral Commission in presenting the vote count casts “more doubts on the credibility” of the process than those already existing, following the dissemination of reports stating that “it did not comply with international standards of electoral integrity.”

The EU refers to the resolution of the Carter Center, the American foundation with extensive experience as an observer of electoral processes, which highlights how the elections did not meet “international standards” and recorded numerous anomalies. This organization has once again dealt a blow to the Chavista regime by highlighting that a computer attack had taken place on the National Electoral Commission’s systems on polling day.

According to this body, a hack on the line that transmits the counting of ballots to the Commission’s headquarters attempted to disrupt the elections or at least interfere with them against Maduro. Observers, on the other hand, have not found any evidence of this circumstance, although it has not prevented the re-elected president from declaring that “we are defeating and pulverizing a coup d’état, the first criminal cyber-fascist coup that is being attempted against Venezuela.” The president has shown himself in favor of regulating Instagram, TikTok and other social networks under the argument that “they are trying to divide Venezuelans.”

His supporters, including Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and the leader of the United Socialist Party, Diosdado Cabello, have denied the credibility of the minutes compiled by the opposition. They claim that many of them are incomplete, lack signatures or contain illegible data. However, none of this appears on the website resultadosconVzla.com, published by the opposition with the results of 24,532 minutes, 81.3% of the total. Many of these records were obtained by delegates and table witnesses belonging to the opposition, who took the copies of the voting stations hidden among their clothes to give them to a network of motorcyclists who transported them to safe places. The sum of votes gives an advantage of almost four million to the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. The website of the National Electoral Commission has been down since Monday, after it declared Maduro the winner at the polls.

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, has referred to these copies to insist on an independent verification of the electoral count by an “entity of international reputation” and “respect for the will of the Venezuelan people.”

“The European Union is doing its bit, the same European Union that recognised (Juan) Guaidó, a disgrace. Mr Borrell is a disgrace, he is a disgrace who led Ukraine into a war and now he washes his hands of it,” was Maduro’s response, expressed during an event with the Bolivarian National Guard in which he decorated several officers. According to the president, the EU “now says that in Venezuela there is repression of peaceful demonstrations. Peaceful ones, when they attack the population, hospitals, schools, buses?” he listed.

On this point, several legal NGOs and human rights experts have denounced the “indiscriminate” and “arbitrary” arrests of Venezuelan citizens with the aim of “intimidating” the country. The Chavista president assured this weekend that 2,000 people have been arrested in the demonstrations. The NGO Foro Penal has already counted 988 “verified and identified” arrests since July 29. “We continue to receive, verify and process complaints,” said the vice president of the organization, Gonzalo Himiob. Among those arrested are 91 adolescents.