A total of 21 countries, including Spain, together with the European Union have issued a joint statement calling for “sensibility and sanity in Venezuela” and demand the publication of the electoral records of the elections held on July 28.

“We request the immediate publication of all the original minutes and the impartial and independent verification of those resultspreferably by an international entity, to guarantee respect for the will of the Venezuelan people expressed at the ballot box,” they have communicated. through a statementon the situation in Venezuela.

In the joint statement published on Friday, the 21 countries and the European Union have asked all Venezuelan political and social actors to “exercise the utmost restraint in their public actions.” They have also demanded that respect all democratic principlesas well as the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Venezuelans, with special emphasis on the right to demonstrate “peacefully and exercise freedom of expression”.

We request the immediate publication of the minutes and the impartial and independent verification of the results.

On the other hand, the congregation of countries has asked Maduro to return the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In addition, they have demanded that the verification of the results be “impartial and independent” and “preferably by an international entity”.

They concluded the joint statement by calling for dialogue to facilitate a political agreement in order to reach national reconciliation: “The moment demands a broad, inclusive and good faith dialogue “to facilitate a political agreement that fosters national reconciliation, peace, public security and democracy in Venezuela. We commit to supporting all efforts in this regard, always advocating for a genuinely Venezuelan solution in which democracy, justice, peace and security prevail.”

The countries that have participated in this statement are: Republic of Argentina, CanadaRepublic of Chile, Czech Republic, Republic of Costa Rica, Republic of Ecuador, Kingdom of Spain, United States of AmericaRepublic of Guatemala, Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Italian Republic, Kingdom of Morocco, Kingdom of the Netherlands, United Kingdom​Republic of Panama, Republic of Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Portuguese Republic, Dominican Republic, Republic of Suriname, Eastern Republic of Uruguay and European Union.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has highlighted this Friday the declaration in which Spain has participated. In a message published this Friday night on X, the socialist has expressed: “Spain is committed to democracy and human rights in Venezuela. That is why we are part of the Santo Domingo Declaration.”

Lula joins the international pressure

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Friday that Venezuela “He lives in a very unpleasant regime, with an authoritarian tendency”although he stopped short of considering it a “dictatorship”, and once again demanded that the minutes of the electoral process be published.

“The opposition says it won, (President Nicolás) Maduro says it won and I I can only acknowledge that the process was democratic if they present the evidence“, Lula said in an interview with Radio Gaúcha. A reaction that comes after the proposal of the Brazilian president to reach an agreement in Venezuela that involves repeating the elections or forming a coalition government. The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, has joined this initiative.

“They didn’t like the idea,” Lula admitted, who stressed again that the solution to the political conflict unleashed after the elections of July 28 “depends solely and exclusively on the behavior of the Venezuelans.” In the case of the position of the Brazilian government, he reiterated that in order to recognize the result of the elections it is necessary to “to know if the numbers are true” presented by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which awarded the victory to Maduro, and the opposition, which denounces fraud and claims victory.

An initiative initially supported by Joe Biden. A support that lasted less than an hour due to a new lapse by the president of the United StatesThe Democrat would have misinterpreted a question about holding new elections in Venezuelawhich created hours of confusion after he implied that he supported a repeat election.

The confusion arose when Biden He appeared briefly before the press before boarding the presidential helicopter Marine One. When a journalist asked him if he supported the call for new elections in Venezuelahe simply replied: “Yes, I do”without offering further details.

However, hours later, a White House spokesman clarified that the president actually he was referring to the “absurd” that the president of VenezuelaNicolas Maduro, has not published the voting minutes of the elections of July 28, where the ruling party proclaimed Maduro’s reelection with results questioned inside and outside the country.

On the other hand, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) also joins the international pressure against Venezuela by approving by consensus a resolution that demands the country’s authorities the “expeditious” publication of the minutes of the elections of last July 28The non-binding text was submitted on behalf of the United States and co-sponsors Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Suriname and Uruguay.