Lopez Obrador to speak with Lula and Petro about the crisis in Venezuela

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador announced that he will speak on Thursday afternoon with his counterparts from Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and from Colombia, Gustavo Petro, about the crisis in Venezuela, where all three agree on calling for transparency in the vote count.

“Yes, we will probably speak on the phone with President Lula and President Petro today at noon in Mexico, around 2 p.m. (20:00 GMT). We are going to talk about the positions that exist in the case of Venezuela. We have acted with prudence,” López Obrador said at his morning press conference.

The three leaders have not yet recognized the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro, as proclaimed by the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela, and they agree in asking that all the minutes be published and waiting to accept any result.

But there are nuances in their positions, as López Obrador has stated that there is “no evidence” of the electoral fraud denounced by the opposition, Lula has considered that “it is a normal electoral process” and Petro has warned of “serious doubts surrounding the electoral process.”

The Mexican leader announced that his approach in the joint meeting will be “that there be no violence,” that “the will of the Venezuelan people be respected,” that “evidence and the minutes of the electoral results be presented,” and “that there be no interference,” particularly from the Organization of American States (OAS).

“We will wait (for the results) and yes, we will have that conversation, but that is our proposal, that there be no violence, that confidence be given to the electoral authorities of Venezuela, that the records be collected, because it cannot be said that one won or the other won, if there is no evidence,” he said.

López Obrador believed in Maduro’s statements, saying that on Wednesday he “proposed that they will hand over the records” and that he “is asking the corresponding electoral body to call on the parties, the candidates, to hand over the information they have.”

For this reason, he asked that “everyone participate, that everyone contribute the data they have.”

“If there is a will to clarify things and respect the vote of the citizens, an agreement will be reached. That is what I hope, that an agreement is reached, that there is dialogue, and that there is evidence, but that we do not rush to disqualify anyone and wait,” he said.

On the other hand, he questioned the role of the OAS in the conflict for “setting itself up as an electoral judge,” defending Mexico’s absence from the urgent meeting that the organization called on Wednesday.

The president said that the elections are “a matter that fundamentally concerns Venezuelans.”

“By not acting prudently, the OAS is not helping, which is why we are not participating, because it seems like an appendix of hegemonic governments or conservative right-wing governments, authoritarian, in fact anti-democratic,” he said.

Mexico City / EFE