The Chilean president, Gabriel Boricassured this Wednesday that he has “no doubts” that the Government of Venezuela “has attempted to commit fraud” during the presidential elections of July 28, and reiterated that Chile “does not recognize the self-proclaimed victory” of the leader of the Chavista regime, Nicolas Maduro.
«Personally, and this is the position of the Chilean Government, I have no doubt that the Maduro regime has tried to commit fraud, otherwise they would have published the famous minutes. Why haven’t they done so? If they had won, they would clearly have shown the minutes»he said in statements to the press.
He explained that the proof is the reluctance to show the electoral records and insisted that Chile will not make the mistake of recognizing any result without it having been verified by international institutions, in a veiled allusion to the victory that the Venezuelan opposition also claims.
“I think that in this we must learn from past experiences. We cannot, as an international community, make the same mistake that was made at the time with (Venezuelan opposition leader Juan) Guaidó, and most countries understand this.”said.
He National Electoral Council (CNE) Venezuela attributed the victory to Maduro, in office since 2013, but more than a week later he has still not published the minutes proving that victory, as requested by the Venezuelan opposition and much of the international community.
Self-proclaimed triumph
«But I want to be clear, Chile does not recognize Maduro’s self-proclaimed victory, and we do not trust in the independence or impartiality of the current institutions in Venezuela, so we have stated as a country that we will validate results that have been verified by international organizations independent of the regime.»the Chilean president stressed.
Boric expressed confidence in “the efforts being made by countries with the capacity to negotiate and dialogue with the different parties involved.”
Chile is one of seven Latin American countries that had to withdraw their diplomatic missions from Venezuela following Maduro’s order in rejection of its “interventionist” statements regarding the presidential election.
“You have seen the ridiculous speeches that some of the leaders of the current Government (of Venezuela) have launched against us, and I am not going to respond in the same terms, it is not the tradition of Chile”he declared.
Following Maduro’s proclamation by the CNE, protests broke out in Caracas and other cities, with 24 dead, according to the NGO Provea, and 2,229 detained, according to the official report delivered by Maduro.
Human rights
“Furthermore, they are committing serious human rights violations by repressing people who are demonstrating and also initiating criminal prosecutions that are ridiculous and would not be acceptable in our country or in any other democratic country against opposition leaders.”Boric said.
The president insisted that “there are principles that must be defended at all events, regardless of the differences (on one side or the other), and that is what we have carried out as international policy,” he said, thus responding to criticism within his own coalition and in particular to the position of the Communist Party.
“We must be forward-thinking, thinking of the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are currently dispersed throughout Latin America, and in particular in our country. When I see the faces of hard-working people, people who are desperate because they had to leave their country in extremely precarious conditions, I cannot help but understand and condemn what the Nicolás Maduro regime has been doing for some time now,” he concluded. (I)
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