EU criticizes detentions, does not recognize election results in Venezuela

Protests continue in Venezuela with thousands of people taking to the streets against the announced re-election of President Nicolas Maduro.

The Venezuelan president ordered increased military and police patrols and called on the population to report offenders. News circulated that the regime had ordered the arrest of opposition leader María Corina Machado and candidate Edmundo González. Costa Rica offered asylum to the two opposition leaders, but they refused because they believed it was their “responsibility to continue the struggle with the people.”

Meanwhile, the European Union has demanded that the authorities stop “detentions, repression and violent rhetoric against opposition figures.” The EU’s top foreign policy official also said that the EU will only recognize the results when the Venezuelan authorities “publish the protocol.” “The National Electoral Council presented only the result corresponding to 80% of the votes and did not disclose any source or system that would allow it to be verified. In a democratic society, the results must be complete and independently verifiable so that they can be verified,” said Josep Borrell. The Carter Center, a North American institution that monitors electoral processes, said there was a “total lack of transparency” and that the elections were not democratic.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro also asked Maduro to allow a transparent vote count.