UN calls for “resolving electoral disputes by peaceful means” in Venezuela

United Nations, Aug 2 (EFE).- UN Secretary General António Guterres, On Friday, he called on “all parties (in Venezuela) to resolve any electoral dispute by peaceful means” and criticized the “arbitrary” arrests and detentions of citizens.

Guterres “calls again for complete transparency and recalls that every citizen has the right to participate in public affairs and no one should be subject to arbitrary arrest or detention,” Guterres’ spokesman Farhan Haq said at his daily press conference.

Haq made these comments after being asked about the UN’s reaction to the United States’ recognition of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of last Sunday’s elections in Venezuela, to which he gave no response.

“We have no comment on decisions made bilaterally by other countries,” the spokesman explained, without making direct reference to this recognition or to the protests against the election results called for tomorrow Saturday throughout the country by the anti-Chavez movement in Venezuela.

Protests have also been called outside the country, including today in front of the UN headquarters in New York, a city where hundreds of Venezuelans have already demonstrated peacefully during the week.

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Washington’s conclusion based on “overwhelming evidence” that González Urrutia was the winner of the July 28 presidential election in the South American country.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner early Monday morning with more than 51% of the votes, without providing any evidence. As of Friday, the CNE has still not published the results, allegedly due to a cyber attack.

Meanwhile, the majority opposition bloc published its minutes on its own website, which supposedly indicated a landslide victory for its candidate, González, who has the support of opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was disqualified from the elections.

In a letter to the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Machado denounced Maduro’s “brutal repression” of protests following the results and reported 20 dead, 1,000 arrested and 11 forced disappearances by state security forces.

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