By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
CARACAS/AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – The leaders of seven European Union countries have demanded that Venezuela publish detailed voting results from last week’s presidential election, which granted incumbent President Nicolás Maduro a victory despite opposition protests.
Sunday’s appeal came after the United States recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González as the presidential election winner.
“We call on Venezuelan authorities to release promptly all the tally sheets to guarantee the full transparency and integrity of the electoral process,” said a joint statement sent to journalists by the Elysée Palac.
The declaration was signed by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
The European leaders “express … great concern” over the political situation in Venezuela and “strongly condemn any arrests or threats” against Venezuelans, “especially the political leaders.”
The opposition rejected Maduro’s declared victory after exit polls projected a decisive lead for his rival Edmundo González.
DICTATORIAL GOVERNMENT
The debacle prompted large protests and rioting in which several people reportedly died, and dozens were injured in the economically South American nation.
The opposition, which considers the election body to be in the pocket of “a dictatorial government,” says its candidate González had more than twice as many votes.
They say their conclusion was based on the 90 vote tallies it has accessed and that authorities are illegally trying to extend a quarter-century of socialist rule.
At least 11 people have been killed in different parts of the country since the election in incidents related to the count or associated protests, according to the rights group Foro Penal.
Thousands of demonstrators, including in Caracas, the capital, demanded the overturn of the presidential elections’ results, which showed a win of 51 percent against 44 percent for Maduro’s primary opponent, Edmundo González.
Shortly after the election results last Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people.”
VENEZUELA COUP
Several sources said the unrest, described by the defense minister as a “coup,” resulted in 750 arrests in the economically troubled area.
Venezuelan authorities also threatened to imprison González as well as opposition leader María Corina Machado, Worthy News learned.
Yet Brussels struggled to present a united front to the political crisis in Venezuela after EU member Hungary vetoed a statement echoing concerns over the alleged “flaws and irregularities” in the voting.
Venezuela’s incumbent President Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has been a close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government.
Hungary’s veto spelled bad news for any future effort to strengthen sanctions against “Maduro’s regime,” commentators said.
The EU’s current penalties date back to 2017 and include a prohibition on exporting weapons and equipment used to repress street protests and the blacklist of 54 individuals accused of undermining Venezuela’s democracy and the rule of law.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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