The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) will hold an extraordinary meeting on Friday to study a draft resolution on the situation in Venezuela, which has been in crisis since the re-election of Nicolás Maduro as president in the disputed elections of July 28.
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The meeting will take place at 20:00 GMT (3 pm in Colombia) at the OAS headquarters in Washington at the request of the United States, according to a statement released Thursday by the organization.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
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The draft resolution calls on the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) to “promptly publish the minutes with the results of the presidential election vote at the level of each polling station” and allow “an impartial verification of the results.”
The document, presented by the United States to the OAS, also received the support of Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Suriname and Uruguay.
After acknowledging “reports of human rights violations” following the Venezuelan elections, the text asks the Maduro government to respect “the right to assemble peacefully” without reprisals, “not to be subjected to arbitrary arrests or imprisonment” and to have a “fair trial.”
Maduro and the UN
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It also asks local authorities to “protect diplomatic facilities and personnel residing in Venezuelan territory” and affirms the commitment of the American organization to “remain attentive to the situation” in Venezuela.
The international community has been demanding the publication of the electoral records since the CNE declared Maduro’s victory over the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, on the same night of the elections.
The United States claims, as does the Venezuelan opposition, that González Urrutia was the one who won the presidential election.
The electoral crisis sparked protests in which 25 people were killed and more than 2,400 arrested.
The OAS Permanent Council met 15 days ago to study a resolution calling for transparency from Maduro’s government. The text was rejected because it did not obtain the majority of votes from the 34 member countries.
Among those who voted against were Brazil and Colombia, which on Thursday suggested repeating the elections in Venezuela.
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