The governments of Colombia, Brazil and Mexico insist that Venezuela’s election authority ought to publish detailed results of the recent presidential vote.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the leftist bloc said that “the presentation of the results of the presidential elections of July 28, 2024 broken down by polling station by the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE)” was “fundamental.”
The CNE declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the elections that were held last month, but has failed to publish the tally sheets that would confirm this.
According to Venezuela’s opposition, the right-wing candidate Edmundo Gonzalez won the elections with 67% of the votes.
The opposition accuse the CNE of fraud based on tally sheets that were given to their election observers at the polling stations they were monitoring.
Independent observers of Colombia’s Electoral Observation Mission said that the tally sheets confirmed the opposition claim to victory.
Instead of making the authorities’ tally sheets public, the CNE surrendered them to Venezuela’s Supreme Court for ratification.
According to the opposition, Maduro effectively controls Venezuela’s Supreme Court.
The dispute led to massive protests and a violent crackdown of opposition activists who are accused of staging a coup by the Maduro administration.
The foreign ministers from Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela reiterated “the call to the political and social actors of the country to exercise utmost caution and moderation at protests and public events.”
The ministers also called on Venezuela’s security forces “to guarantee the full exercise” the right to protest “within the boundaries of the law.”
The statement said that the governments of the leftist bloc were available to mediate an end to Venezuela’s latest political crisis and contribute to “political stability and democracy in the country.”
Maduro has yet to meaningfully respond to the foreign ministers’ repeated requests to allow an independent verification of the results of the election that granted him another six years in office.