Allies Urge Venezuelan Electoral Council to Release Records
Joint Statement from the Foreign Ministries of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico
The foreign ministers of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico said they received instructions to continue conversing about the situation in Venezuela.
HAVANA TIMES – Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, which are attempting to mediate a solution to the current crisis in Venezuela, insisted on August 8th on the release of the results from all the electoral precincts by the National Electoral Council and not the Supreme Court, to which they were supposedly sent.
The foreign ministers of the three countries issued a statement in which “they consider it essential for the National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE) to present the results of the July 28, 2024, presidential elections broken down by electoral precinct.”
They added that they are aware that the Supreme Court of Venezuela has initiated a process regarding the electoral process, but they believe that it is the National Electoral Council that is “the body legally mandated to transparently disclose the election results.”
The foreign ministers, who said they have received a mandate from their heads of state to continue dialogue on the situation in Venezuela, reaffirmed the need for the Maduro government to allow impartial verification of the electoral results.
Amid the uncertainty in the country and the violence generated by some protestors, they urged “caution and moderation” from all parties and expressed their willingness to promote dialogue between the government and the opposition, allowing Venezuelans to sovereignly resolve the crisis.
The ministers “reiterate their call to the country’s political and social actors to exercise the utmost caution and moderation in demonstrations and public events and to the country’s security forces to ensure the full exercise of this democratic right within the limits of the law,” according to the second joint statement from the three countries.
According to the governments of presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil), Gustavo Petro (Colombia), and Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (Mexico), respect for human rights must prevail under all circumstances.
The ministers said they would maintain their “high-level conversations” but with full respect for the sovereignty and will of the Venezuelan people, as they believe that the solution to the current situation must emerge from Venezuela.
“In this sense, they repeat their willingness to support efforts of dialogue and seeking understanding that contributes to political stability and democracy in the country,” the statement read.
A few hours before the joint statement on Venezuela’s post-election crisis was released, Colombian Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said he saw a “ray of hope” in the efforts made by the three countries.
Murillo stated that the three countries have spoken with the Venezuelan government and with the “various opposition groups.”
The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela proclaimed President Maduro’s victory on the night of the elections without providing evidence. Meanwhile, the opposition presented thousands of electoral precinct tally sheet results on a website, which would overwhelmingly show Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner, supported by opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from registering her candidacy.
Machado says she is confident that with the support of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, “clear, firm, and effective negotiation terms” for a transition of power in Venezuela can be established.
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Originally published in Spanish by Confidencial and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.