Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Wednesday that his stance on the post-election crisis in Venezuela “has helped” to prevent violence from “spilling out of control” in that country, where protests have left 25 dead and more than 2,400 arrested.
During his morning press conference, the president defended the position he shares with his counterparts from Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Colombia, Gustavo Petro, of “waiting for the final results” in Venezuela, where the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Nicolás Maduro re-elected president.
“What we maintained with President Lula and President Petro is that there should be no violence, and that call has helped because there is still confrontation, but the violence is not out of control,” said the Mexican leader.
Moments earlier, more than 25 civil organizations in Caracas called on Latin American governments to take “concrete actions” to “stop” the “human rights crisis” in Venezuela, where they have documented the number of deaths and arrests following protests against the official results of the July 28 elections.
More words
In contrast, López Obrador stressed that “fortunately there have been no overflows” in the South American country.
“Now my opponents are going to say that I am denying that there is violence in Venezuela. No, I am not denying it, but a confrontation with so many interests involved is bound to make things worse,” he said.
The president criticized the international “charge” and the “regrouping of the right-wing movement” around Venezuela, questioning the fact that the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, have recognized the victory of the opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia.
He insisted that Mexico “has to wait” before recognizing any winning candidate and that he trusts in what “the electoral bodies decide.”
Other phrases
He also said that “everything was going very well” on election day “and then at night things started to go wrong and no results were presented from either side.”
“We are not in any electoral body in Venezuela, this is a matter that corresponds to the Venezuelans and what we want is a peaceful solution to the controversies, which has always been our foreign policy, and to act with prudence and not let ourselves be carried away,” he argued.
The Venezuelan opposition has called for protests against the official results next Saturday, when marches are also planned in the main Mexican cities, such as Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara and Tijuana.
Mexico City / EFE
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2024-08-17 10:55:26
