The leaders of seven European countries, including Portugal, called on Venezuelan authorities on Saturday to quickly publish all the protocols from Sunday’s vote to guarantee “full transparency and integrity of the electoral process.”
In a joint statement, the leaders of seven countries – Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland – expressed great concern about the situation in Venezuela following last Sunday’s presidential elections.
In addition to asking for the election protocols to be made public, they add that “the opposition indicated that it had collected and published more than 80% of the ballot papers that were produced at each polling station.”
“This verification is necessary to recognize the will of the Venezuelan people,” they emphasize.
In a statement released today, political leaders also wrote that the process must respect the rights of Venezuelans, especially their political leaders.
“We strongly condemn any detentions or threats against them,” they said.
“The will of the Venezuelan people, as well as their right to peaceful protest and freedom of assembly, must also be respected,” add government officials, who conclude by stating that they and their partners will continue to closely monitor the situation and support the Venezuelan people’s call for democracy and peace.
In addition to the Prime Minister of Portugal, the declaration was signed by political leaders of Italy, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland.
On Monday, Venezuela’s National Electoral Commission declared Nicolás Maduro the winner of Sunday’s presidential election, with 51.2% of the vote.
In turn, the opposition majority bloc published the results on its internet portal, which allegedly brought a convincing victory to its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who enjoys the support of opposition leader María Corina Machado, who is not allowed to participate in the elections by the Chavista regime.
Since then, there have been demonstrations, particularly against the regime of Nicolás Maduro, some of which have been violently suppressed.
At least 13 people were killed and more than 1,200 were detained.