The president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, On Friday, he ruled out any negotiations with opposition leader María Corina Machado after appearing before the Supreme Court, where he asked it to “certify” his disputed re-election for a third six-year term.
Maduro was the last candidate to appear before the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), accused of serving Chavismo. Eight other presidential candidates, a minority, also responded to the call, while the main opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, who claims victory, defied the summons alleging “violation of due process.”
“Whatever the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela says will be the law of the Republic, it will be a holy verdict,” the president told the press upon leaving the hearing.
Maduro was proclaimed re-elected president with 52% of the votes against 43% for González Urrutia, but the National Electoral Council (CNE) did not publish the details of the vote count, alleging a hack of the voting system. Twelve days later, it still has not done so.
The opposition has denounced fraud and claimed to have 80% of the records, which they say prove the victory of González Urrutia, a discreet ambassador who represented Machado in the presidential elections after he was disqualified from holding public office.
Maduro, on the other hand, pointed out that “83% of the opposition’s documents” “are false.”
In an interview with AFP, Machado said that the opposition is proposing a “negotiation for a democratic transition” that “includes guarantees, safeguards and incentives for the parties involved, in this case the regime that was defeated in the presidential election.”
“We are determined to move forward in negotiations,” the leader insisted. “It will be a complex, delicate transition process, in which we will unite the entire nation.”
Maduro ruled out any contact with the opposition leader. “The only one who has to negotiate with Machado in this country is the attorney general. She should turn herself in to justice and face the crime and answer for it. It is really the only negotiation that is possible here,” said the leftist leader, who called her a “fugitive from justice.”
Protests erupted across the country after the election results were announced, leaving at least 24 dead, according to human rights organizations, and more than 2,200 arrested, according to Maduro.
The president, however, said he was willing to call for a “dialogue” with the country’s 38 parties, including the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), the party that supported González Urrutia.
The United States recalled on Friday that “only through dialogue, not repression, can Venezuela return to democratic norms,” the US embassy in Venezuela, which operates from Colombia after the rupture of relations in 2019, said in X. It also called for the release of detained opponents.
“The cyber attack was brutal”
The 61-year-old president was represented by state attorney Reinaldo Muñoz and members of his cabinet. Supporters gathered outside the court to support him.
“I have answered the questions that were legally put to me. I have not evaded any questions from the judges,” he said.
International observers, such as the Carter Center, agree on the projections of an opposition victory, while the United States, the European Union and Latin American countries, including Maduro allies such as Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, demand the publication of the minutes.
“The Carter Center has bid farewell through the sad door of lies in this electoral story,” Maduro concluded. “The cyber attack was brutal: 30 million attacks per minute on the electronic systems of the CNE and Venezuela.”
But doubts about the hacking persist. Enrique Márquez, former presidential candidate and former director of the CNE, said that “it is not easy” to falsify the records and pointed out that the system “has never” been hacked because it is “very difficult.”
Maduro also said he was “on the phone 24 hours a day, every day” for a call with Presidents Gustavo Petro (Colombia), Luis Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil) and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Mexico).
A call between the presidents scheduled for these days was cancelled, according to Maduro, due to “scheduling problems.”
CNE President Elvis Amoroso appeared before the court on Monday and said he had delivered all the requested material: the minutes of the vote counts from the polling stations, the final tally and a copy of Maduro’s proclamation.
Supreme Court President Caryslia Rodríguez said the material will be reviewed within 15 days, a period that may be “extended.”
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2024-08-14 16:35:49