The Carter Center believes that the elections in Venezuela “cannot be considered democratic”

The Carter Center, which participated as an observer in the Venezuelan presidential elections, has indicated that the process “did not conform” to international parameters and standards of electoral integrity, and therefore “cannot be considered democratic.”

“The Carter Center cannot verify or corroborate the authenticity of the presidential election results declared by the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela,” the Carter Center said in a statement.

The organization highlighted that the electoral body, which declared the official candidate Nicolás Maduro the winner with more than two million votes still to be counted, has not announced the results broken down by tablewhich “constitutes a serious violation of electoral principles“.

The problem – the note continues – “was aggravated abroad, where citizens faced excessive, even arbitrary, legal barriers to registering abroad.”

Prosecution against opponents

The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Ripehas warned that the country is “facing an international, global attack by United States imperialism, by the fascist extreme right, to take over the country through criminality, violence, manipulation and lies,” after which he has asked to prosecute opposition leader María Corina Machado and opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.

“There will be no impunity in the face of the criminal-terrorist maelstrom. I hold González Urrutia responsible for everything that is happening in Venezuela, for the criminal violence, the delinquents, the wounded, the dead, the destruction. You will be directly responsible, Edmundo González Urrutia and María Corina Machado. Justice must come, there must be justice in Venezuela, it cannot be that the people are attacked,” he said, according to the news portal Efecto Cocuyo.