The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved this Friday by consensus a resolution demanding that the Venezuelan authorities publish the minutes “expeditiously” of the July 28 elections in that country. The non-binding text was presented on behalf of the United States and Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Suriname and Uruguay as co-sponsors.

The resolution urges the National Electoral Council (CNE) to “expeditiously publish the minutes with the results of the presidential election vote at the level of each polling station” and “respect the fundamental principle of popular sovereignty through an impartial verification of the results that ensure the transparency, credibility and legitimacy of the electoral process“. Their call joins the one also made this Friday by the European Union, including Spain, and 22 other countries, in favor of “immediate publication of all original minutes” of the elections and the “impartial” and “independent” verification of the results of those elections, in which according to the CNE President Nicolás Maduro defeated the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.

The OAS resolution also highlights the importance of “protecting and preserving all equipment used in the electoral process, including all printed minutes and results, in order to safeguard the entire chain of custody” of said process. It also requests the protection of diplomatic facilities and personnel residing in Venezuelan territory, including persons requesting asylum in such facilities. It also calls on the interested parties to “refrain from any conduct that may compromise the integrity of the electoral process.” Building a peaceful way out of this crisisrespecting the sovereign will of the Venezuelan electorate.”

The Permanent Council opted for it to be “an absolute priority and an obligation for Venezuela” respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, (…) in particular the right to peaceful assembly and to the full exercise of civil and political rights without reprisals, the right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest or imprisonment and the right to a fair trial.”

“Let us show the people of Venezuela that they are not alone,” said the United States ambassador to the OAS, Francisco Mora, at the beginning of the session. On July 31, another resolution demanding the immediate dissemination of the electoral records had failed in this Pan-American organization, based in Washington. That first text had 17 votes in favor, none against, 11 abstentions and five absencesso it did not achieve the absolute majority necessary to succeed.

The phrase that encouraged the vote to be carried out broke the vote on that occasion. “a comprehensive verification of the results in the presence of monitoring organizations “independent to ensure the transparency, credibility and legitimacy of the results.” This was not included in the text approved now.