OAS urges Maduro to acknowledge defeat or call new elections in Venezuela

The secretary general of the Organization of American States on Tuesday urged Nicolás Maduro to acknowledge his defeat in the Venezuelan presidential electionsadding to the questions about the result of the elections that declared the current president the winner and that has been rejected by several countries.

“It is imperative to know about Maduro’s acceptance of the minutes held by the opposition and consequently accept his electoral defeat,” said Luis Almagro’s office in its first statement on Sunday’s electoral process in Venezuela.

“Failure to do so would require new elections,” but this time with international observers from the European Union and the OAS and new electoral authorities “to reduce the margin of institutional irregularity that plagued this process,” the general secretariat of the continental organization indicated in a press release.

Almagro’s office stressed the urgency for Maduro to acknowledge his defeat or call for new elections “taking into account that the opposition campaign command has already presented the records by which it would have won the election” and the ruling party – including the electoral authorities – “has not been able to present the records by which it would have won, which at this point would be laughable and pathetic if it were not tragic.”

Several countries in the region, including Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Uruguay, criticized the lack of transparency in the electoral process that proclaimed Maduro president, which angered the Venezuelan government, which ordered all its diplomatic personnel in those countries to return and asked those nations to do the same with their personnel in Venezuela.

Urgent meeting

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) announced on Tuesday that it will meet in an extraordinary session to “address the results of the electoral process in Venezuela” following a request from 12 member countries.

The urgent meeting, requested by the governments of Paraguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay, among others, will take place on Wednesday at the organization’s headquarters in Washington, the bloc revealed on its official X account.

The meeting of the OAS leadership takes place after a historic day of presidential elections in Venezuela in which President Nicolás Maduro was the winner to continue with a third term, according to the results of the National Electoral Council that the opposition rejects.

The proclamation of Maduro as the winner over opposition candidate Edmundo González, despite exit polls giving González a wide margin of advantage, has caused controversy inside and outside the country, where protests have been recorded.

The official of the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, strongly questioned the position of the Maduro government in what he described as “an electoral process without guarantees, nor mechanisms and procedures to enforce those guarantees.”

“It is imperative to know about Maduro’s acceptance of the minutes held by the opposition and consequently accept his electoral defeat and open the way to the return to democracy in Venezuela,” they said in a statement.

The text insists that “failure to do so would require new elections” with the presence of observers from the European Union and the OAS, as well as “a new National Electoral Council to reduce the margin of institutional irregularity that plagued this process.”

Reactions from governments in the region

Several governments in the region have expressed their “deep concern” after learning of the results of the elections in Venezuela and the opposition’s complaints.

In a release The governments of Paraguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay also demanded “a complete review of the results with the presence of independent electoral observers,” the statement announced on Monday.

The end of the election day in Venezuela last Sunday was marked by delays in the publication of detailed results, after Maduro was declared the winner with 51% of the votes, compared to 44% for González, the candidate supported by opposition leader María Corina Machado, winner of the presidential primaries but disqualified from holding public office.

After failing to oust Maduro during three rounds of protests since 2014, the opposition has turned its faith to the ballot box. Sunday’s vote was among the most peaceful in recent memory, reflecting, analysts say, the opposition’s hope that Venezuela could avoid bloodshed with a democratic transition that would end 25 years of Chavista rule.

Maduro’s government celebrated the victory early on Monday and described the positions of neighboring countries as “interventionist,” accused them of being “subordinate” to Washington and linked them to the ideology of “international fascism.”

In response to the criticism, Caracas announced that it would recall all of its diplomatic personnel from Panama, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

In the statement, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said that his country’s government reserves the right to defend and “enforce” its right to self-determination.

[Con información de Reuters]

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