Dominican Republic

• Governments reiterated that only an impartial and independent audit of the minutes can guarantee the results.

The governments of Paraguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, the United States, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay issued a joint statement on August 23 to reject the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) ruling which certified the result announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE) of the elections of July 28.

In it statement released The foreign ministries of the signatory countries indicated that the verification of the results of the electoral process in Venezuela aims to validate the unsupported results issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

“Our countries had already expressed their disapproval of the validity of the CNE declaration, after opposition representatives were denied access to the official count, the non-publication of the minutes and the subsequent refusal to carry out an impartial and independent audit of all of them,” the text says.

In addition, the 11 countries recalled that the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UN) on Venezuela warned about the lack of independence and impartiality of both institutions, the CNE and the TSJ.

“The undersigned countries reiterate that only an impartial and independent audit of the votes, which evaluates all the minutes, will guarantee respect for the sovereign popular will and democracy in Venezuela,” the statement said.

Violation of human rights in Venezuela

The statement from the 11 countries also highlighted the international community’s concern over reports of human rights violations in Venezuela.

“We express our profound rejection of the violations committed against citizens who peacefully demand respect for the citizen’s vote and the restoration of democracy,” the text reads.

They added that they will continue to insist that the decision of the Venezuelan people, who expressed themselves “peacefully and forcefully” on July 28, be respected.

The joint statement reiterates the request that the results be published by polling station, a point that was included in the electoral contest schedule and that has been demanded by a large part of the international community.

Gratitude from the opposition

Opposition leader María Corina Machado expressed her gratitude through her X account for the statement from the 11 countries.

“The democratic world is aligned with the people of Venezuela and respect for our popular sovereignty. At this point, no one can believe the crude maneuver of the TSJ to hide the records that show the overwhelming victory of Edmundo González,” wrote Machado.

He reiterated that the TSJ ruling, far from closing the case, accelerates the process of international isolation of Nicolás Maduro’s government.

“It is part of the complicity with the CNE fraud. It was clear that they did not dare to publish the minutes,” said the opposition leader.

Machado reiterated that they will remain focused on the goal, as each day they achieve a new objective to ensure that the decision of the Venezuelans in the presidential elections of July 28 is recognized.

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