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August 13, 2024 – 08:50
Miami (USA), Aug 13 (EFE).- The Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA), formed by 37 former leaders, urged the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, which it defines as “slow-paced mediators with the tyranny” of Venezuela, to demand from President Nicolás Maduro the records of the elections of July 28.
“We must put an end to the tragedy that has left thousands of victims in Venezuela and denied it its right to a peaceful transition to democracy,” said a statement from the IDEA group.
The former heads of state and government of IDEA consider that the governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have the “obligation” to demand that Maduro “present to them and their electoral bodies, immediately, the voting records table by table and separately, until now hidden by the Venezuelan Electoral Power.”
The statement reminds the “slow-paced mediators with Maduro’s tyranny” that while they do not raise this demand, Venezuelans “are dying, being kidnapped and tortured at the hands of the regime’s repressive forces” and that “the UN has demanded an end to the repression and an investigation into the repressors.”
According to the Venezuelan Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, 25 deaths have been recorded since protests broke out after Maduro was declared the winner of the presidential elections without presenting the voting records to prove it, which he attributed to “instrumentalized criminal groups.”
According to Saab, up to August 2, 192 people had been injured in protests, of which “97 belong to state security forces.”
Political tension has soared following the elections in Venezuela, as the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), claims, based on the results of 83.5% of the election records published on a website, that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won by a wide margin and has won the support of the US and other Latin American and European governments.
On Monday, the UN Fact-Finding Mission in Venezuela demanded that Venezuelan authorities “immediately stop the repression and ‘thoroughly investigate the avalanche of serious human rights violations that are occurring,’” according to a statement from the organization.
Mission President Marta Valiñas said the allegations “must be investigated and that if abuse of force by security forces or pro-government armed civilians is confirmed, there must be accountability.”
Opposition leader María Corina Machado said in an interview with EFE on Monday that she is convinced that Edmundo González Urrutia will be sworn in as the new head of state on January 10, 2025, when the new government period begins.
The former Liberal MP reiterated that the candidate of the PUD won the elections “in an overwhelming manner”, whose official result has been rejected by numerous countries, while the Carter Center, which participated as an observer in the contest, pointed out that the electoral process “cannot be considered democratic”.
Among the 37 members of IDEA are former presidents Oscar Arias (Costa Rica), Felipe Calderón (Mexico), Julio María Sanguinetti (Uruguay), Ricardo Lagos (Chile), Álvaro Uribe (Colombia) and former heads of government of Spain Felipe González, José Maria Aznar and Mariano Rajoy. EFE
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