The foreign ministers of seven Latin American nations told Venezuela that it is “essential” to “have guarantees” that the results of this Sunday’s elections will be respected.
“We consider it essential to have guarantees that the electoral results will fully respect the popular will expressed by the Venezuelan people at the polls,” ssaid a joint statement from the foreign ministers of Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
In the statement, released by the Panamanian Foreign Ministry on its account on the X network, the foreign ministers said that the guarantee that the results will be respected requires a “transparent vote count” and “verification and control” by “inspectors and delegates” of all candidates.
In addition, the heads of diplomacy of the seven nations assured that they are “closely following the events in Venezuela.”
On Sunday, the governments of the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador stated that “the will of the Venezuelan people (…) must be respected,” in a joint statement issued shortly after the start of the presidential elections in Venezuela.
“In light of the statements made by Nicolas Maduro Regarding 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 guarantees that the elections would be “free, fair and transparent.”
The ADD rejected the actions of the Venezuelan government that limited “access to 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.
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.
“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.
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The head of the official campaign, Jorge Rodríguez, hinted this Sunday that the leftist president Nicolas Maduro won the election in Venezuela against the opposition Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiaspeaking to reporters after voting closed.
“We cannot give results, but we can give faces,” said Rodriguez, displaying a smile. “It has been a victory for everyone.” He added, accompanied by the number two of Chavismo, Diosdado Cabello, and other pro-government leaders, all smiling while Rodríguez spoke.
“The people have spoken and that voice of the people must be respected,” he insisted.
Shortly before, González Urrutia had declared himself “more than pleased” with the expectations of the day, while opposition leader María Corina Machado called on citizens to monitor the counting.
“We want to ask all Venezuelans to stay in their voting centers, to be there on vigil. We have fought all these years for this day, these are the crucial minutes,” Machado emphasized.
Source: Gestion
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