The European Union (EU) reiterated on Sunday that it is “following the events in Venezuela with concern” and called for “greater independent verification of the electoral registers” following the vote on July 28, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared the current president of the Caribbean country, Nicolás Maduro, the winner.
“Reports from international election observation missions clearly state that the presidential elections of 28 July did not meet international standards of electoral integrity,” the EU said in a statement.
The European body urged the body in charge of the Venezuelan elections to publish the official minutes of the polling stations, since “without supporting evidence, the results published on August 2 by the CNE cannot be recognized.”
This statement follows statements made on Saturday by Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal, which signed a joint declaration calling on “the Venezuelan authorities to publish all voting records without delay in order to guarantee the full transparency and integrity of the electoral process.”
The EU also asked the Venezuelan authorities to respect the protests that have taken place since Monday in different cities of the country, which have left, according to the Executive, more than 2,000 people arrested and two soldiers dead, while the NGO Foro Penal reports 11 civilian deaths since the demonstrations began.
“The Venezuelan authorities, including the security forces, must fully respect human rights, including freedom of expression and assembly. The European Union is seriously concerned about the increasing number of arbitrary arrests and the continued harassment of the opposition,” the statement continued.
On Friday, the CNE offered a second and final report, so far, in which it confirmed the victory and reelection of President Nicolás Maduro with 51.95% of the votes, while – it assured – González Urrutia obtained 43.18% of the votes, with 96.87% of the votes counted, which have not yet been published.
Brussels / EFE
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2024-08-07 21:36:58
