Portugal among 22 countries calling for impartial audit of Venezuelan election results

Portugal is one of 22 countries that signed, along with the European Union, a statement released Friday calling for the “immediate publication of the original protocols” of the presidential elections in Venezuela and an “impartial” and “independent” verification of the results.

The statement was issued in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, by Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez, and it stressed that “any delay” in this verification “preferably by an international organization to guarantee respect for the will of the Venezuelan people expressed in the elections” casts doubt on the officially published results.

The declaration was signed by Argentina, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the United Kingdom, Suriname, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and the European Union.

Venezuela, a country with a significant Portuguese and Portuguese-speaking population, held presidential elections on July 28, after which the National Electoral Council (CNE) attributed victory to Maduro with just over 51% of the vote, while the opposition claimed that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, received almost 70% of the vote.

The Venezuelan opposition and several countries in the international community have condemned the election fraud and demanded that the voting records be made available for independent verification, which the CNE says is impossible due to the “cyber attack” that it was allegedly aimed at.

The election results were contested in the streets, demonstrations were suppressed by security forces, some 2,000 people were arrested and more than two dozen people died.

The declaration, released today, calls for respect for “democratic principles, as well as the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Venezuelans, and in particular the right to peaceful demonstration and the exercise of freedom of expression,” which “is not the current reality in Venezuela.”

“The number of arbitrary detentions of Venezuelans without due process is alarming, so we demand their immediate release,” the signatories say.

Expressing “deep rejection of the repression of protesters and the violence that has cost the lives of many Venezuelans in the post-election period,” the subscribers “urgently call on the Venezuelan authorities to put an end to the violence and release all those who have been detained, including members of the opposition.”

The statement was issued in Santo Domingo, given the presence in that city of numerous leaders and representatives of countries and institutions from around the world who attended today the inauguration of the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, for his second and final term.

At the same time, he asks that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights be allowed to return to the country under the appropriate conditions to carry out its mandate and that a safe conduct certificate be issued allowing the six asylum seekers who remain in the residence of the Argentine official to leave Venezuelan territory safely.

“This moment requires a broad, inclusive and good faith dialogue to promote a political agreement that will advance national reconciliation, peace, public security and democracy in Venezuela,” the signatories add.

On July 31, 17 governments voted at the Organization of American States (OAS) for a resolution asking Venezuelan authorities to “immediately” publish the election protocols, but the initiative was unsuccessful.

Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, the United States, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Suriname and Uruguay voted in favour of this resolution.