Latin American countries call urgent Organization of American States meeting amid Venezuela election results

The governments of Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay,  and the Dominican Republic expressed their deep concern about the development of the presidential elections in Venezuela. In a joint statement issued this Monday, the countries demand a complete review of the electoral results and ask for an urgent meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) to analyze the situation.

The declaration published in a special statement by the foreign ministries of the aforementioned countries, emphasizes the need for the presence of independent electoral observers to ensure respect for the will of the Venezuelan people, who participated massively and peacefully in the elections.

"The vote count must be transparent and the results must not cast doubts," says the letter signed by the Latin American governments on July 29.

Given the situation, these countries announced that they will request an urgent meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) with the objective of "issuing a resolution that safeguards the popular will, framed in the Democratic Charter and the fundamental principles of democracy." in the region".

Comunicado oficial pic.twitter.com/2fjQL8khk2

— Cancillería del Ecuador 🇪🇨 (@CancilleriaEc) July 29, 2024

This call to the OAS seeks to ensure that democratic values ​​are respected and a fair and transparent electoral process is guaranteed in Venezuela. The signatory countries consider the intervention of the international organization to be crucial to resolve the situation and maintain democratic stability in the region.

The joint statement reflects the growing international concern about the situation in the Venezuelan nation and the determination of these Governments to take concrete measures to ensure that the will of those people is respected and that democratic principles prevail.

Other governments, regardless of joint action, have announced more drastic measures, as in the case of Panama.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, also announced this Monday that he is putting diplomatic relations on "suspense" and withdrawing his diplomatic corps in Venezuela "until a complete review of the minutes" of the votes is carried out, after rejecting the results of the elections in that country, after which Nicolás Maduro was officially proclaimed president by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

"The government of Panama announces the withdrawal of diplomatic personnel from Venezuela and putting diplomatic relations on hold until a complete review of the records of the computer system of the voting count is carried out that allow us to know the genuine popular will," he said in the Panamanian president held a press conference.

El presidente de Panamá, José Raúl Mulino, anunció el retiro del personal diplomático de Venezuela y señaló que relaciones diplomáticas con ese país están "en suspenso" hasta que se realice una "revisión completa de las actas y del sistema informático de escrutinio de la votación… pic.twitter.com/LfvmRtX08k

— Telemetro Reporta (@TReporta) July 29, 2024

Likewise, the Argentine Foreign Ministry ignored the results confirmed by the Venezuelan Electoral Body that gave victory to Chavismo and assured that it will continue to support the people of Venezuela in their "fight for freedom," according to the statement they shared this afternoon. in X.

In its first report offered in the early hours of Monday, the National Electoral Council (CNE) gave the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, as the winner with 51.20% of the votes, compared to 44.20% of the opponent Edmundo González Urrutia, with 80% counted.

Those numbers contrasted sharply with other post-election reports from about 40% of the country’s polling stations that the opposition had a 7 out of 10 vote lead over the dictator. By Monday evening, with 73.2% of the voting tallies in, reports revealed by Reuters suggested that Maduro had only won 2.75 million votes compared to 6.27 million for Gonzalez.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado said that the "new elected president" (Gonzalez) is the candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) bloc, since, she said with more than 40% of the votes tallied by the electoral entity, the opposition obtained 70% of the votes. votes, while Maduro, received only 30%.