The European Union is “extremely concerned” about the crisis in Venezuela

2024-08-28 09:32:31

A supporter of President Nicolas Maduro holds a national flag as she takes part in a march to defend the Law against Fascism, Neofascism and Similar Expressions in Caracas on August 23, 2024. The United States, along with countries in Europe and Latin America, on Friday rejected the certification by Venezuela’s Supreme Court of strongman Nicolas Maduro’s widely questioned presidential reelection. (Photo by Pedro Rances Mattey / AFP)

The European Union (EU) is “extremely concerned” by the political crisis in Venezuela, where the opposition rejects the result of the presidential elections of July 28, said a statement by the head of European diplomacy published on Sunday.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Nicolás Maduro the winner with 52% of the votes, compared to 43% for Edmundo González Urrutia, without presenting the details of the vote count, alleging a hack against the voting system.

But the opposition and many observers consider such an attack to be implausible and a government ploy to avoid revealing the exact count.

“Only complete and independently verifiable results will be accepted and recognised,” the 27-member bloc said in the text.

The Venezuelan authorities have not yet provided “the public evidence necessary to confirm the electoral process” in accordance with the conditions set by a group of UN experts, the EU said in the statement.

The members of the bloc reiterated their call to the Venezuelan Electoral Council to publish the minutes of “all polling stations.”

According to publicly available voting records, the opposition candidate “appears to have won the presidential election by a large majority,” the EU said.

Venezuelan authorities must also “respect the right of Venezuelans to peacefully demonstrate and express their political opinions without fear of reprisals,” the statement continued.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado called on Venezuelans to “take to the streets” next Wednesday, August 28, one month after the elections that declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner, after the Supreme Court validated his questioned reelection.

Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office on Monday summoned González Urrutia, who has been in hiding since July 30 and is the subject of a criminal investigation after alleging fraud in the presidential election.

The announcement of Maduro’s re-election sparked a wave of protests in the country, which were harshly repressed.

The protests left 27 dead – two of them soldiers -, almost 200 injured and more than 2,400 arrested, according to official sources.

© Agence France-Presse