LThe governments of the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador said on Sunday that “the will of the Venezuelan people (…) must be obeyed”in a joint statement issued as presidential elections are held in Venezuela.
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“In light of Nicolás Maduro’s statements about the possibility of a ‘bloodbath’ if the government loses the elections, we repeat our call to the Venezuelan authorities to comply with the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” said a statement from the Alliance for Development in Democracy (ADD), which is made up of the four countries.
The ADD members added in the statement, released by the Panamanian Foreign Ministry, that in the elections “the will of the Venezuelan people, the foundation of democracy, must be respected.”
The four nations also called for “free, fair and transparent” elections.
🔴#ATTENTION | The Development Alliance, made up of Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic, reiterates its call for elections in Venezuela to be held freely and peacefully. pic.twitter.com/8gFrdANjHm
— NotiMundo (@notimundoec) July 28, 2024
The ADD rejected the actions of the Venezuelan government that “limit the access of international observers” to verify the electoral process, in particular the prohibition of entry to several former Latin American presidents last Friday.
That day Venezuelan authorities prevented four former presidents from traveling to Caracas together from Panama.
A Panamanian Copa Airlines flight carrying four former presidents to Venezuela was unable to take off from Tocumen Airport “due to the blockade of Venezuelan airspace,” Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said on his X account.
Copa plane carrying President Moscoso and other former presidents to Venezuela has not been allowed to take off from Tocumen while they remain on board, due to the blockade of Venezuelan airspace. Likewise, another Copa flight to Panama from Caracas has not continued…
— Jose Raul Mulino (@JoseRaulMulino) July 26, 2024
The group included former presidents Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (Costa Rica), Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia), Vicente Fox (Mexico) and Mireya Moscoso (Panama), who are members of the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas, a forum of right-wing former leaders.
This Sunday, the ADD called on Venezuelans “to turn out en masse to vote.”
“For the Venezuelan election to be legitimate, it must be a transparent reflection of the popular will freely expressed at the polls,” the four nations said.
“The winner recognizes himself”
For its part, God given hair, First Vice President of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), said that Chavismo will recognize the results if its candidate, Nicolás Maduro, loses the presidential elections.
“That’s the democratic game. (…) The winner is recognized. Now, it’s good to ask that of the opposition sectors, who still at this point have not said they will recognize (…). We invite them to put on the suit of democracy (…) It’s (like) a baseball game: you win or you lose,” said Cabello from the state of Monagas (northeast) when asked about the matter.
Those who go to an election must accept the rules imposed by the referee.
He also said that “those who participate in an election must accept the rules imposed by the referee,” which is the National Electoral Council (CNE), including “the issuance of results.”
“The United Socialist Party of Venezuela has assumed this in all these elections,” said the PSUV leader.
Cabello said that in the elections “there will be a good participation” and, in addition, will set “for many the pace of what happens in Latin America.”
“No one should stay at home. This is a historic event for Venezuela and the world. The eyes of the world are on Venezuela. What happens here in Venezuela will set the pace for many of what happens in Latin America. That is why we are obliged to preserve democracy,” said the Chavista.
In these elections, Maduro, who is seeking his third term in office, will compete with nine other candidates, including the largest opposition coalition – Democratic Unitary Platform -, Edmundo González Urrutia, who is running for the first time.
*With AFP and EFE
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