In addition to Brazil, 11 other countries express concern about elections in Venezuela | Policy

Venezuela’s neighbor, Colombia said that measures taken by the Maduro government could affect the international community’s “confidence” in the elections. Additionally, the United States said it sees a “disturbing escalation” in the South American country (read the positions here).

After the deadline for registering candidates, the Democratic Unitary Platform coalition, which brings together ten opposition parties, stated that it was unable to register Corina Yoris’ candidacy.

Corina Yoris had already been chosen because the initial candidate, María Corina Machado, had been disqualified by the Venezuelan Supreme Court, aligned with Maduro.

In response to this Brazilian statement, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry issued a note in which it stated that:

Officially, Itamaraty did not comment on the Venezuelan reaction. On condition of anonymity, a member of the ministry’s leadership stated that the assessment was that, if he responded, it would fuel diplomatic friction in a public way.

This Itamaraty source heard by the GloboNews also said that the Venezuelan note repeats a pattern of the Maduro regime of relating criticism to alleged US interference.

Venezuela criticizes Brazil after Itamaraty expresses concern about Venezuelan election

See what they said in this report:

Brazil’s response came late and is weak, says Míriam Leitão on criticism of Venezuela

Eight countries in joint statement

In a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, a group of eight countries (Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay) expressed “serious concern” about the fact that Corina Yoris had not been able to register application.

The situation, these countries describe, leads to questions about the integrity and transparency of the electoral process “in its entirety”.

“The restrictions impede progress towards elections that allow for a process of democratization in sister Venezuela,” said the countries in the joint statement.

“We ask that the situation be reconsidered so that […] the brotherly Venezuelan people can freely elect their next government”, they concluded.

In a statement released this Tuesday (26), the Colombian government expressed “concern” about the way in which the electoral process in the country is unfolding, mainly due to the impossibility of registering Corina Yoris’ candidacy.

“Colombia expresses its concern about the recent events […] particularly with the difficulties faced by majority sectors of the opposition […]which could affect the confidence of some sectors of the international community in the transparency and competitiveness of the electoral process”, stated Gustavo Petro’s foreign ministry.

Amid the recent arrests of Maduro’s opponents, Gabriel Boric’s government released a statement saying that the Venezuelan government acts in a way “contrary to the democratic spirit”. And he adds that the regime’s stance against opponents, in itself, has already affected the electoral process in the country and contravened the Barbados Agreement.

“The Chilean government joins the calls made by multilateral human rights bodies for Venezuela to put an end to harassment against political opponents,” stated the Chilean government.

Regarding the same episode mentioned by the Chilean government, the United States Department of State — the body responsible for the country’s international relations — issued a statement in which it said that Venezuela is experiencing a “disturbing escalation of repression”.

“These actions, along with the detention of numerous other members of the opposition and civil society this year, as well as the continued disqualification of candidates, undermine the possibility of competitive elections,” the department said.

“To guarantee a democratic election, which meets the expectations of the Venezuelan people, Maduro and his representatives must follow the commitments they made in Barbados in October 2023”, added the Joe Biden government.