The Portuguese government does not recognize Maduro as the re-elected president of Venezuela

Portuguese Minister recalled that the minutes have not yet been shown in Venezuela / Photo: Courtesy

The Portuguese government does not recognize Nicolás Maduro as the re-elected president of Venezuela because the electoral records have not been published, and calls for an end to the “persecution” of the political opposition, said the Portuguese Foreign Minister, Paulo Rangel, in an interview broadcast on Wednesday.

Rangel spoke to Colombian radio station W Radio during a visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

The Foreign Minister said that Portugal’s position is “very close” to that of the European Union and, given that time is passing and the electoral results, which, he recalled, should have been published, are not known, his country “does not recognise the electoral result”.

Rangel insisted that it is important to publish the minutes, because without them “this result cannot be recognized” and expressed his concern about the situation in Venezuela.

“It is necessary to stop all persecution of the opposition. We are very concerned about the situation of freedoms and we are in great solidarity with the countries that have citizens who were detained in this period after the elections,” he stressed.

He explained that Portugal is in contact with “friendly countries” such as Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Brazil and Colombia “to find a solution that can offer democratic transparency and provide a way out of the political situation.”

Venezuela held presidential elections on July 28 and the government declared Maduro’s victory, but the opposition claims that the winner was its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, who has been in Spain since September 8 after requesting political asylum.

Lisbon / EFE