The Argentine government does not support the holding of “new elections” in Venezuela

The Argentine government on Friday positioned itself against the possible holding of new elections as a way out of the political crisis in Venezuela following the elections of July 28, which according to official results declared Nicolás Maduro the winner and in which, according to Argentina, there was fraud.

“It is clear that we consider, I have already said it here, we consider who was the winner of the elections and we have a clear position regarding that and we do not see that there is a reason for there to be new elections in Venezuela,” said the spokesman for the Argentine Presidency, Manuel Adorni, in his usual press conference at the Casa Rosada.

Argentina was one of the first to call the results of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) that gave Maduro the victory “fraud” and “scam,” and last week officially recognized the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, as the “undisputed winner” of the elections.

The Argentine government’s position on new elections comes shortly after Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva suggested two possible solutions to the post-election crisis in Venezuela on Thursday: the formation of a coalition government that includes members of the Chavistas and the opposition or the holding of new elections.

The latter proposal was rejected by Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, as well as by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who said he does not see it as “prudent” to call for new elections now.

Meanwhile, Colombian President Gustavo Petro suggested for Venezuela a “national front” like the one that existed in Colombia in the 20th century, in which liberals and conservatives took turns in power as a “transitory” step towards a “definitive solution” to the crisis, in an idea similar to that suggested by Lula about a coalition government.

For his part, a White House spokesman said yesterday that Washington considers that the winner of the elections was the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, according to the minutes obtained by the majority opposition bloc, and again called for respect for “the will” of the Venezuelan people so that there is a “transition back to democratic norms.”

Following the elections in Venezuela, the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico began talks to find a solution to the crisis, a mediation effort that has the support of, among others, the United States.

Buenos Aires / EFE