World leaders expressed their strong condemnation of the electoral fraud that occurred in Venezuela

Reuters

Caracas.-Following the release of the first bulletin of the presidential elections in Venezuela by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which declared Nicolás Maduro the winner with 51% of the votes, amid allegations of irregularities by the opposition, leaders of the international community expressed their concern about the fraud that occurred in the Caribbean country.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called for a “fair and transparent” recount of votes. In a statement, the State Department said that “it is vitally important that every vote is counted fairly and transparently. We call on election authorities to publish detailed vote counts (records) to ensure transparency and accountability.”

Blinken also expressed “serious concern” that the outcome does not reflect the popular will. He also praised the Venezuelan people for participating in the election “despite the significant challenges and serious concerns about the process.”

“We commend their courage and commitment to democratic principles in the face of repression and adversity,” he added.

For his part, US Senator Marco Rubio called the presidential elections in Venezuela “the most predictable and ridiculous farce in modern history.” Meanwhile, Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar also condemned the process, calling it an “insult to the Venezuelan people” and assuring that both Congress and the White House will denounce it.

“The international community will denounce it. It will not be so easy this time. It will not be able to sustain this aggression,” he warned.

Chilean President Gabriel Boric also issued strong criticism against the Chavista regime, questioning the veracity of the election results published by the CNE.

“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 said.

Another of the region’s leaders to speak out was the Argentine, Javier Milei: “Venezuelans chose to end the communist dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro. The data announce a crushing victory for the opposition and the world is waiting for him to recognize the defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence and death.”

Through his X account, he announced that “Argentina will not recognize another fraud, and hopes that the Armed Forces will defend democracy and the popular will this time. Freedom Advances in Latin America,” he added and declared: “Dictator Maduro, out!!!”

Former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana also reacted to the announcements: “There was no electoral fraud in Venezuela, but rather a coup d’état that ignored the popular will!” he said.

Former Colombian President Iván Duque also echoed this statement, saying that the Venezuelan presidential elections were robbed and asking the international community not to recognize Nicolás Maduro as president.

“The theft has been consummated: the tyrant Nicolás Maduro has committed electoral fraud to perpetuate himself in power, ignoring the massive support of the Venezuelan people for the heroic democratic resistance led by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González,” he said.

Peruvian Foreign Minister Javier González-Olaechea also expressed his rejection of the results, saying that his country “will not accept the violation of the popular will of the Venezuelan people.”

“I condemn in all its extremes the sum of irregularities with the intention of fraud by the Venezuelan government. Peru will not accept the violation of the popular will of the Venezuelan people,” González-Olaechea posted on the social network X.

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou said he would not recognize the result announced by Chavismo. “The process was flawed,” he said in a statement.

“Not like that! It was an open secret. They were going to ‘win’ regardless of the real results,” said the Uruguayan head of state. “The process up to the day of the election and the counting of votes was clearly flawed. You cannot recognize a victory if you do not trust the way and the mechanisms used to achieve it,” concluded the Uruguayan, one of the most critical regional leaders of Maduro.

Lacalle Pou’s complaint thus joins that of Álvaro Vargas Llosa, son of the Spanish-Peruvian essayist and journalist Mario Vargas Llosa, who denounced that in these elections copies of the minutes were not delivered in numerous voting centers and opposition witnesses were prevented from entering the computing center of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

According to Vargas Llosa, “announcing a result that contradicts exit polls that give an overwhelming victory to the opposition” is a clear indication of electoral fraud already prepared.

“The international community must react forcefully. Ultimately, everything will depend on whether factions within the regime emerge that are willing to turn their backs on the petty tyrant from Miraflores, refuse to condone this monumental fraud and repress their compatriots, and initiate a negotiated transition. The last word has not been said, by any means,” he concluded.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said he views the election results “with many doubts.”

“Venezuela deserves transparent, accurate results that are in line with the will of its people,” Arévalo de León said in a message through his official channels.

“We received the results announced by the CNE with many doubts. That is why the reports from the electoral observation missions are essential, as today more than ever, they must defend the vote of the Venezuelans,” added the 65-year-old leader.

Costa Rica also expressed its rejection of the announced results. In a statement released through the X platform, the president of that nation, Rodrigo Chaves, described the electoral process that declared Maduro the winner as “fraudulent.”

“The government of Costa Rica categorically rejects the proclamation of Nicolás Maduro as president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which we consider fraudulent,” the text reads.

“We will work with democratic governments on the continent and international organizations to ensure that the sacred will of the people is respected,” he added.

Panama, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Javier Martínez-Acha, claimed on Monday that “the will of the Venezuelan people must be respected” in the presidential elections in Venezuela, because “it is much more important to be right and have the votes for victory” than to be declared the winner.

“With democracy, you eat, you educate, you heal, and you can also lose. In an election, the important thing is not only to be declared the winner, it is much more important to be right and have the votes to win. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected,” Martínez-Acha said on his official account on the social network XY, ​​concluding: “For the well-being and reconciliation of the Venezuelan people, enough is enough!”

For his part, the head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, asked Venezuela on Monday to guarantee “total transparency” in the counting of votes after the elections in which President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner.

“The people of Venezuela voted peacefully and en masse on the future of their country. Their will must be respected. It is vital to ensure the full transparency of the electoral process, including the detailed counting of votes and access to the voting records of polling stations,” Borrell said in a post on the X network.

In Spain, the deputy spokesperson for the Popular Party in the Congress of Deputies, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, asked the government of her country if it was going to denounce “the fraud” in the elections in Venezuela.

“And the Spanish Government? Does it have nothing to say? Is it not going to denounce the fraud? Is it not going to defend the democratic will of the Venezuelan people?” the popular party member said in a message via X (formerly Twitter), citing the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares.

Following the questioning, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares called for “calm” and questioned Maduro’s victory.

“The democratic will of the Venezuelan people must be respected with the presentation of the minutes of all the electoral tables to guarantee fully verifiable results,” he said in a message on the social network X. And when asked in an interview on Cadena Ser, he said that “we must wait until everyone has access to the results.”

“We want complete transparency and that is why we are asking for the publication of the minutes table by table,” he said.

Also on the old continent, the vice president of the Italian government and foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, expressed this Monday “many doubts” about the development of the elections in Venezuela and asked for “access to the minutes” of the elections, after the announcement of the re-election of Nicolás Maduro for a third term.

“I have many doubts about the regular development of the elections in Venezuela. We request verifiable results and access to the minutes: Does the result announcing Maduro’s victory really reflect the will of the people?” Tajani wrote in a message on his social networks.Infobae.