‘Fraud’: Andre Ventura comments on Venezuelan elections and criticizes Paulo Rangel

Chegu President André Ventura said on Monday that the elections in Venezuela were “fraudulent” and criticized Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel for an “empty and frightening” statement, calling for more courage from the Portuguese state.

“I am going to say this with all the risks that it entails, but it seems to me to be proof. I think that these elections were fraudulent. The independent studies that we have had so far and that we carried out yesterday, especially at the polling stations, showed a clear tendency of the opposition movements to win against President Nicolás Maduro, and what we had (…) was the exact opposite,” André Ventura said in statements to journalists before entering a meeting with the Bar Association in Lisbon.

President Chegui called on the government, “as the United States has already done,” to demand that “Venezuela disclose the full results of the elections at all the ballot boxes” to guarantee the legitimacy of Nicolás Maduro’s government.

Ventura said Portugal “cannot accept either illegitimate regimes or fraudulent elections” and criticised Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel for making “an absolutely empty and frightening statement” this morning.

“Our responsibility, whether it is Angola, Venezuela, Mozambique, Cape Verde or any other country, is to say that these elections are unacceptable, Venezuela must show respect for its people,” he added.

The Portuguese government today called for an impartial audit of the results of Sunday’s presidential elections in Venezuela, in which President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory. The Foreign Ministry “welcomes popular participation and considers it necessary to impartially verify the results of the elections in Venezuela,” it said in a statement posted on the social network X.

“Only transparency will guarantee legitimacy; we call for democratic justice and a spirit of dialogue. We always support the Portuguese community,” MNE stressed.

André Ventura also said that the party would present in parliament a recommendation to the Portuguese government to demand that the Venezuelan executive branch “publish all the election results” and that this proposal is on behalf of “the Portuguese community in Venezuela, as well as the thousands of Venezuelans who came to Portugal in search of a better life.”

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that outgoing President Nicolas Maduro was re-elected for a third consecutive term with 51.20% of the vote.

According to official figures announced by CNE President Elvis Amoroso, Maduro received 5.15 million votes, beating opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who received just under 4.5 million (44.2%).

Venezuela’s opposition has claimed victory in Sunday’s presidential election, with opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia winning 70% of the vote, opposition leader María Corina Machado said, refusing to accept the results announced by the CNE.