In a joint statement, the governments of Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and the US rejected the Supreme Court verdict and called for an “impartial and independent audit” of the vote
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As Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro continues to clutch on to the power, the United States and 10 Latin American nations “categorically rejected” his presidency. The rejection came a day after the Venezuelan Supreme Court certified Maduro’s win in the polls held last month.
However, the Thursday verdict by the Venezuelan court was widely questioned internationally and from across the political spectrum. In a joint statement, the governments of Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and the US rejected the Supreme Court verdict and called for an “impartial and independent audit” of the vote.
Not only this, the Latin American nations also expressed “profound concerns” over human rights violations committed during Maduro’s post-election crackdown. Earlier this month, it was reported that over 1,600 people were detained and at least 24 others killed in the violence that ensued after the election.
‘We are dealing with dictatorship’: Chile’s president
Chile’s President and Maduro’s biggest critic Gabriel Boric slammed the Venezuelan court’s judgement and described Maduro as a dictator. “We are dealing with a dictatorship that falsifies elections,” Boric said after the supreme court ruling, rejecting the idea that Maduro’s regime was leftwing.
“The Maduro regime is not democratic and we do not recognise its fraud,” Guatemala’s centre-left leader, Bernardo Arévalo averred. Meanwhile, the United States also raised a voice of concern insisting that the ruling lacked “all credibility, given the overwhelming evidence that [Maduro’s rival Edmundo] González received the most votes” in the 28 July election.
“Continued attempts to fraudulently claim victory for Maduro will only exacerbate the ongoing crisis,” Vedant Patel, a State Department spokesperson, told reporters on Friday. The European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also made it clear that its 27 member states would not recognise Maduro’s re-election without seeing “a verifiable result”.
Similar sentiments were also echoed by Brazil, Colombia and Mexican leaders. Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro, whose diplomats have been exploring possible ways of defusing the growing crisis, are expected to issue a separate joint statement over the matter.
Meanwhile, Maduro and his allies have rejected international criticism, with Venezuela’s foreign minister, Yván Gil, calling Boric the “laughingstock” of Latin America and who is a “submissive pawn of North American imperialism”.
Maduro is expected to be sworn in for his third six-year term as president on 10 January.
With inputs from agencies.
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Publish date : 2024-08-23 16:01:00
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