Díaz-Canel: Whoever asks to review the minutes in Venezuela has hidden “purposes”

Cuba on Monday condemned the “purposes behind” the “pretext” of “making the results transparent” in Venezuela, which declared Nicolás Maduro the winner, in reference to the countries – among them, allies of Havana such as Mexico, Colombia and Brazil – that have requested the publication of the minutes.

During his telematic intervention at the XI Extraordinary Summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that Venezuela is suffering from a “rude” and “concerted” campaign that seeks to “mask another coup attempt.”

He also described the records published by the opposition – who say they obtained 83.5% of them, and give victory to their candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia – as “documentation of dubious origin” that is presented “as legitimate.”

“We will not remain on the sidelines or silent in the face of the outrages and blatant interference of the empire,” Díaz-Canel stressed.

Cuba, a close political ally of Venezuela and a major recipient of its oil, was one of the first countries to recognize the victory of President Nicolás Maduro, declared by the National Electoral Council (CNE) despite protests against it.

Following the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela’s approval of Maduro’s victory last Thursday, the presidents of Brazil and Colombia, the progressives Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Gustavo Petro, insisted on the need to disseminate the electoral records “broken down by voting table.”

Likewise, the Mexican president, the also leftist Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has not yet officially recognized Maduro’s reelection.

Last Sunday, Cuba’s pro-government Center for International Policy Research (CIPI) said it believes that “anyone” who questions the official version of the elections in Venezuela is, in some way, following a “pattern that the United States has established.”

In an interview with EFE, its director, José Ramón Cabañas, called for “respect” for Venezuela’s internal affairs, but also acknowledged that publishing the minutes could make “sense” to clear up doubts.

Havana / EFE