USA denounced that the government of the illegitimate president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has “once again” deprived Venezuelans of participating in a “fair and free” electoral process.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that during Sunday’s local elections “the regime altered the process to determine the outcome of these elections long before the ballots were cast.”
In this regard, the head of US diplomacy cited, among others, arbitrary arrests and harassment of political and civil society actors, the criminalization of the activities of opposition parties, the vetoes of candidates from across the spectrum. political and voter registration manipulation.
He emphasized the “arbitrary” detention of more than 250 individuals for political reasons, “denying Venezuelans their rights to freely express their opinions and elect their own leaders.”
Blinken considered that these practices were carried out to end political pluralism and “guarantee that the elections do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.”
For this reason, he reiterated the call of the United States to the Maduro regime to cease its repression and allow citizens to live in a “peaceful, stable and democratic” country.
“The United States supports the people of Venezuela in their desire to peacefully restore democracy through free and fair elections, with full respect for freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He also recalled that his Government supports the negotiations between Venezuelans and the efforts of the opposition leader Juan Guaidó, whom the United States calls the “interim president” of Venezuela.
“We will continue to work with Venezuelan and international partners using all diplomatic and economic tools to press for the release of all those unjustly detained for political reasons,” Blinken said.
The ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) won in the local elections on Sunday, obtaining 205 mayors of the country of the 322 that already have confirmed results with 99.2% of the acts transmitted, reported the National Electoral Council (CNE).
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