International community demands clarity in Venezuelan election recount

The vast majority of the international community demanded this Monday that the Venezuelan authorities be transparent in the recount of the presidential elections held yesterday, Sunday, and in which the electoral body, controlled by the ruling party, attributed the victory to Nicolás Maduro, with 51% of the votes.

The US, the European Union and most Latin American countries expressed concern about the recount and demanded clarity. and that all the electoral records be published so that the results can be verified, which declare Maduro the winner, who was congratulated by countries such as Russia, Iran and China.

Maduro, in power since 2013, obtained 51.20% of the votes, while the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained 44.20%, according to the first official bulletin, presented by the National Electoral Council (CNE), in results questioned by the opposition.

The administration of US President Joe Biden has “Serious concerns that the announced results do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people“,” White House Homeland Security spokesman John Kirby said in a telephone press briefing.

The spokesman considered that it is “absolutely essential that every vote is counted fairly and transparentlythat election officials immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers, and that electoral authorities publish full and detailed voting records.”

For his part, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, expressed his “serious concern” about the validity of the results announced by Venezuela’s electoral commission, which declared Nicolás Maduro the winner. Blinken questioned the legitimacy of the process and the representation of the “will” of the voters.

“We have serious concerns that the announced results do not reflect the will of the votes or of the Venezuelan people,” he added.

Urgent meeting of the OAS requested

The Governments of Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic, in a joint statement issued this Monday, express their deep concern due to the conduct of the elections, they demand a complete review of the results and call for an urgent meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS).

“The vote count must be transparent and the results must not leave any doubts,” the statement says.

The Chilean president, Gabriel Boricone of the most prominent figures of the Latin American left, stressed that It is imperative to hand over all the minutes to both independent international observers and the opposition. y «Until that happens, we as a country will refrain from recognizing what the National Electoral Council has indicated.”

On his X account, Boric wrote: «The Maduro regime must understand that the results it publishes are difficult to believe. The international community and above all the Venezuelan people, including the millions of Venezuelans in exile, demand total transparency of the minutes and the process, and that international observers not beholden to the Government account for the veracity of the results.

He concluded by reiterating: “From Chile we will not recognize any result that is not verifiable.”

The President of Argentina, Javier Milei rejected the Venezuelan election results in the early hours of this MondayMilei said that her country “will not recognize another fraud” in Venezuela and argued that the citizens of that country “chose to end the communist dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro.”

Through her account on the social network X, Milei published: «The data announce a crushing victory for the opposition and the world is waiting for it to recognize defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence and death..

«Argentina will not admit to another fraud, and hopes that the Armed Forces (of Venezuela) will defend democracy and the popular will this time“, stressing that his position was maintained even though the official results of the National Electoral Council (CNE) were not yet fully known.

Josep Borrell: “It is vital to ensure the full transparency of the electoral process”

The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, I affirm that “It is vital to ensure full transparency in the electoral process, including detailed counting of votes and access to voting records at polling stations.”

For him Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albaresit is also important that the democratic will of Venezuela is respected with “the presentation of the minutes of all the polling stations to ensure fully verifiable results.”

He The German government said the announced results did not serve to dispel doubts about the counting, He therefore asked the authorities in Caracas to ensure transparency in the counting and to make the minutes public so that the opposition can clearly see who won the vote.

He The British government also expressed concern about allegations of irregularities in the vote count in Venezuela and called for the “detailed results” of the elections to be made public to ensure transparency.

«We are concerned about reports of serious irregularities in the counting and declared results of Sunday’s presidential election in Venezuela“the British Foreign Office said in X.

He Vice President of the Italian Government and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, said in a message on social networks that he has “many doubts about the regular development of the elections in Venezuela. We demand verifiable results and access to the minutes: Does the result announcing Maduro’s victory truly reflect the will of the people?

France on Monday called for “total transparency” in the disclosure of detailed data on the minutes and voting centres y «“requests the full application of the Venezuelan electoral law, which implies above all the full publication of the minutes and the results of the voting centers”diplomatic sources said in a statement.

The Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would recognize Maduro’s victory in the elections if the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela “confirms the trend”although he asked to “wait for the recount.”

*With information from EFE*