Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged governments not to recognize the results of the Venezuelan elections announced Monday by the National Electoral Council of the Caribbean country that declared Nicolás Maduro the winner “until all the electoral records are made public and communicated to the opposition.”
In a statement sent to EFE, HRW’s Americas director, Juanita Goebertus, believes that the National Electoral Council’s proclamation of Maduro’s victory in the early hours of Monday with 80% of the votes counted “is a blatant move that violates the political rights of all Venezuelans.”
Venezuela’s CNE officially proclaimed Nicolás Maduro president on Monday, after the body announced that the Chavista, in power since the death of then-President Hugo Chávez (1999-2013), won the election with 51.2% of the votes, a result rejected by the majority opposition and much of the international community.
Goebertus recalls that Venezuelan law itself establishes that electoral victories must be declared only after the electoral records have been made public and communicated to the opposition.
The official added that “the international community must use all diplomatic tools at its disposal to urge the authorities to count the votes in a fair and transparent manner.”
The brief statement by HRW’s leadership echoes reservations expressed by governments across Latin America, as well as the United States, the European Union and Spain.
Of the Latin American governments, those most critical of the results – Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay – received today the order from Caracas to withdraw, “immediately, their representatives in Venezuelan territory,” in rejection of their “interventionist actions and statements” regarding this Sunday’s presidential elections.
This Monday, during his proclamation ceremony as re-elected president, Maduro celebrated the “feat” of having defeated fascism in the elections.
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2024-08-01 05:06:35
