Brazil, Colombia and the United States today called for new presidential elections to be held in Venezuela to end the crisis sparked by the disputed re-election of socialist Nicolas Maduro.
The opposition, which has declared victory in the July 28 election, called the calls “disrespectful” to Venezuelans.
“If Nicolás Maduro has any common sense, he could try to appeal to the people of Venezuela, maybe even call and schedule an election again.”said the president of Brazil Luis Inacio Lula da Silva in an interview on a local radio station.
His Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro asked for his part through X that new “free” elections be held. He also proposed, among other things, “the lifting of all economic sanctions” affecting the country.
The American president Joe Biden he followed that up a few minutes later by answering “yes” to a reporter who asked him if he supports Brazil and Colombia’s proposals.
The National Electoral Council (CNE) has since August ratified the victory of the outgoing president Nicolas Maduro with 52% of the vote, without announcing the exact count and minutes of the polling stations, assuring that he was the victim of cyber-hacking.
According to the opposition, which released minutes obtained by its members in the electoral commissions, its candidate Edmundo Gonzales Urutia won the presidential election with 67% of the vote, a result that Maduro rejects.
The announcement of Maduro’s re-election for a third term sparked spontaneous protests, with 25 dead, 192 injured and 2,400 arrested, according to an official source.
The leader of the opposition Maria Corina Machado he immediately rejected calls for new presidential elections.
“The fact that you suggest that what happened on July 28 should not be taken into account is for me a lack of respect for Venezuelans (…) popular sovereignty has self-respect”Machado said during a press conference via the Internet to media in Chile and Argentina.
“The elections took place and the Venezuelan society expressed itself in very unfavorable conditions. There was fraud and yet we managed to win”he stated.
Maduro, for his part, has already ruled out any new vote, saying three days after his disputed re-election: “I won the game of dominoes and ask to play it again? It’s like playing dominoes, I’ve won and I’m asking to play the same game again, please! No, you’ve already won, have a beer”he had said on July 31 during a press conference.
For its part, the parliament today passed the law that imposes regulations on non-governmental organizations and associations and which the opposition describes as a freedom killer.
Two other bills, on “incitement to fascism and incitement to hatred” and on the regulation of social media, are also in the preparation stage.
The government controls the unicameral parliament, holding 256 of the 277 seats after the opposition boycotted the 2020 parliamentary elections.
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