Brazil to send observers to Venezuela’s presidential elections

• The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will send two of its technicians to Venezuela | Main photo: Courtesy

The Superior Electoral Tribunal (TSE) of Brazil, which A month ago he rejected an invitation from the government of Nicolás Maduro to send observers to the July 28 presidential elections in Venezuela, announced on Wednesday, July 17, that it had reviewed its decision and would send two observers.

According to the notification sent to the Foreign Ministry, they are the director of the Electoral Management Advisory Board of the TSE, Sandra Damiani, and the head of the Electoral Systems Coordination, José de Melo Cruz.

The Brazilian electoral court did not explain the reason for its change of decision.

Photo: EFE

Brazilian authorities rejected the invitation in June 2024

In June 2024, when Brazil rejected the invitation of the National Electoral Council of Venezuela, there was a controversy over that body’s decision to reject an observer mission announced by the European Union.

At the time, there were also doubts regarding the possible participation of opposition candidates in the elections, and accusations by the government that the government was preparing to rigg the elections in order to stay in power.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira insisted on June 19 that the elections to be held in Venezuela must have the “widest presence of international observers” in order to guarantee their “legitimacy.”

Vieira appeared before the Foreign Relations Committee of the Chamber of Deputies and, referring to the Venezuelan electoral process, stressed that Brazil remains “fully committed to the Barbados Accords,” agreed upon by the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition with the endorsement of several countries.

These agreements, which included Brazil as one of the witnesses and sponsors, established minimum requirements for free and transparent elections, but have been denounced by the opposition, which accuses Maduro’s government of violating them by imposing difficulties on the registration of its candidates.

The agreement in Barbados at the end of 2023 also proposed the presence of a broad representation of international observers at the elections, but Venezuela recently withdrew an invitation to a European Union (EU) mission.

“We consider the broad presence of observers as provided for in the Barbados Agreements to be very important,” because these elections “will be an opportunity to overcome the crisis and normalize the situation (in Venezuela) at the internal and external levels,” he said.

He also said that whoever wins the elections will need the greatest legitimacy, accepted by all political actors, whether from Venezuela itself or abroad.

Photo: CNE

Concern over obstacles in the electoral process

Months ago, Brazil expressed its “concern” regarding the difficulties faced by the opposition in registering candidates, which received a harsh response from the Venezuelan government.

These obstacles were overcome with the registration of former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia as the presidential candidate of the largest opposition coalition, following the veto by the electoral authorities of the platform’s leading figure, María Corina Machado.

González Urrutia, who this week denounced the illegal detention of some of his collaborators, will face Maduro at the polls on July 28, who is seeking re-election in an election in which other candidates will participate, to whom the polls do not attribute any chance of victory.

With information from EFE

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