Presidential candidates sign electoral pact, opposition adheres to the Barbados Agreement

Eight of the 10 presidential candidates signed an agreement this Thursday to recognize the results of the July 28 elections in Venezuela. The opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, ruled it out, arguing that the point is “redundant” because it is contemplated in the Barbados Agreement, which, he claims, the government has violated.

The opposition presidential candidate Enrique Márquez also did not sign the document.

The agreement signed by the candidates Nicolás Maduro, who is seeking his third term, Luis Eduardo Martínez, Daniel Ceballos, Antonio Ecarri Angola, José Brito, Benjamín Rausseo, Claudio Fermín and Javier Bertucci, establishes the commitment to recognize the Electoral Power as the “sole authority legitimate and competent for the organization, administration, direction and surveillance” of the election.

The pact also establishes the commitment to recognize that the National Electoral Council (CNE) has fulfilled the electoral guarantees in each of the phases of the process established in the electoral schedule, “respecting the perfect expression of the popular will” in accordance with the Barbados agreementswhich the opposition has questioned and denounced on several occasions.

Earlier, González Urrutia reiterated that the recognition of the results is contemplated in point 12 of the agreements on electoral guarantees signed in Barbados, which, he insisted, has been violated by the government by revoke the invitation to the European Union Electoral Observation Mission (EU EOM) and by “increasing” the persecution against opposition leaders and sympathizers.

“It is an indication of the bias that characterizes this unequal campaign, where the CNE should act with the impartiality required by the Constitution and the Law. An agreement can never be imposed unilaterally, but must arise from a respectful dialogue between all parties. Dialogue between the parties will be our guide, never imposition,” he said in a statement.

González affirmed that as a democrat he will submit to the will of the Venezuelan people and said that there is no reason to doubt this. “For the expression of the will of the people, I demand guarantees and respect,” he stressed.

“He did not respond to the call of the country,” said Elvis Amoroso, president of the CNE, calling on González to sign his signature at an event that was held at the organization’s main headquarters in the center of Caracas.

The document also establishes competing in a climate of “respect, peace and democratic participation” so that on July 28 and the following days “the will of the people of Venezuela is not interfered with or ignored with acts of violence and destabilization that threaten the well-being of the country.”

The proposal to sign an agreement to recognize the results that emerge on July 28, It was presented by the head of the ruling party’s campaign command, Jorge Rodríguez.

The government has accused the opposition of seeking to install a matrix of electoral “fraud” with the aim of promoting violence.

The opposition led by María Corina Machado, winner of the presidential primary, but disqualified from holding public office, which supports González, insists, however, that it will remain on the electoral route to achieve a transition in the country that is experiencing moments of political uncertainty.

Since the beginning of this year, he has denounced a systematic wave of persecution and intimidation. So far in 2024, at least 37 political leaders and social leaders have been arrested and accused of organize supposed plans destabilizers in the country.

Several governments, including that of Brazil, have reiterated the importance of the elections in Venezuela having a “large presence of international observers”in accordance with the agreements signed in Barbados, after the invitation to the EU EOM was revoked.

The agreement signed this Thursday also requires the lifting of sanctions imposed by the international community, as well as rejecting financing or resources “coming from national and international illicit acts.”

Connect with the Voice of America! Subscribe to our channels Youtube, WhatsApp and to the newsletter. Turn on notifications and follow us on Facebook, x and instagram.