SANTO DOMINGO – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member-countries Guyana and Suriname have joined a strong international appeal for “wisdom and restraint” in the Venezuela crisis.
Meeting in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, the two CARICOM member-countries on Friday joined the Dominican Republic and 17 other countries, as well as the European Union (EU), in expressing strong concern in a joint statement about the political crisis in Venezuela since the much-disputed July 28 presidential election.
“At this decisive juncture for Venezuela and the region, all social and political actors must exercise the utmost restraint in their public actions,” said the joint statement, which was also signed by Argentina, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Italy, Morocco, Netherlands, Panamá, Paraguay, Perú, Portugal, Uruguay and the United States.
“Acceptance and respect for the dignity and integrity of all individuals are the essential principles upon which the peaceful coexistence in our societies is built,” the statement added. “We urge for the respect of democratic principles, as well as the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Venezuelans, particularly the freedom of peaceful assembly and the freedom of expression.”
The 21 countries, including the EU, said they were “concerned that this reality currently does not exist in Venezuela,” stating that reports of arbitrary detentions of Venezuelans without due process are “alarming.”
They, therefore, urgently called for the immediate release of detained Venezuelans.
The signatories also expressed deep condemnation of the repression of protesters and the violence that has claimed the lives of many Venezuelans in the post-election context, calling on Venezuelan authorities to urgently end the violence and release all those who have been detained, including opposition representatives.
Furthermore, they requested the immediate return of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to Venezuela, and called on Venezuela to ensure the necessary conditions for it to fully carry out its mandate.
In addition, the signatories called on Venezuela, as a state party to the Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum of 1954, to comply with its provision by issuing the safe passage that will allow the six asylum seekers currently residing in the official residence of Argentina to safely leave Venezuelan territory.
The 20 countries and the EU took note of the preliminary report by the United Nations Expert Panel on the presidential election in Venezuela, which indicates that the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela has yet to present the electoral records that substantiate the validity of the results announced on August 2.
The countries and the EU also noted that a digital version of more than 80 percent of the electoral records has been published, “which shows a different outcome than that reported by the CNE.”
“Consequently, we request the immediate publication of all original records and the impartial and independent verification of those results, preferably by an international entity, to ensure respect for the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed at the polls,” they said. “Any delay in this process calls into question the August 2, 2024, official proclamation.”
Stating that these nations and the EU have previously appealed for peaceful dialogue and negotiations to resolve serious conflicts in Venezuela, they said that, “Now more than ever, Venezuela must honor that legacy to restore peaceful coexistence, public safety and political stability, which, according to accounts by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela of the UN Human Rights Council, are being threatened by the Venezuelan security authorities.
“The current situation calls for a broad, inclusive and good-faith dialogue to facilitate a political agreement that fosters national reconciliation, peace, public security and democracy in Venezuela,” the countries said.
“We are committed to supporting all efforts in this direction, and always advocating for a genuinely Venezuelan solution in which democracy and justice, and peace and security will prevail.,” they added.
Earlier this month, the United States congratulated Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia for receiving the most votes in Venezuela’s Jul. 28 presidential election as documented by what Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken described as “the democratic opposition’s extensive efforts to ensure a transparent accounting of the votes.”
US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller said that Blinken, who also spoke with Venezuela’s opposition member María Corina Machado, “expressed his concern for their safety and well-being following the election and condemned all political violence and repression.
“The Secretary applauded the Venezuelan people for their dedication to democracy in the face of significant challenges and reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to supporting the process of re-establishing democratic norms in Venezuela,” Miller said.
Blinken said that at least 12 million Venezuelans “peacefully went to the polls and exercised one of the most powerful rights given to people in any democracy: the right to vote.
“Unfortunately, the processing of those votes and the announcement of results by the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) were deeply flawed, yielding an announced outcome that does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people,” he said.
“The CNE’s rapid declaration of Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the presidential election came with no supporting evidence,” he added. “The CNE still has not published disaggregated data or any of the vote tally sheets, despite repeated calls from Venezuelans and the international community to do so.
“As the independent Carter Center’s observation mission reported, the CNE’s failure to provide the precinct-level official results, as well as irregularities throughout the process, have stripped the CNE’s announced outcome of any credibility,” continued Blinken, stating that the “democratic opposition” has, in the interim, published more than 80 percent of the tally sheets received directly from polling stations throughout Venezuela.
“Those tally sheets indicate that Edmundo González Urrutia received the most votes in this election by an insurmountable margin,” the US Secretary of State said. “Independent observers have corroborated these facts, and this outcome was also supported by election day exit polls and quick counts.”
In the days since the election, Miller said the Biden administration has consulted widely with partners and allies around the world, “and while countries have taken different approaches in responding, none have concluded that Nicolás Maduro received the most votes this election.
“Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election,” he said.
Meantime, the G7 Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the High Representative of the European Union have expressed “solidarity with the people of Venezuela, who peacefully exercised their right to vote in large numbers on Jul. 28 to shape the future of their country.”
They noted that independent domestic and international observers’ reports have raised “serious concerns about the announced results of Venezuela’s Presidential elections and about the way the electoral process was conducted, especially regarding the irregularities and lack of transparency in the final tabulation of the votes.
“It is of paramount importance that the result reflects the will of the Venezuelan people,” said the G7 Foreign Ministers in a statement. “We call on relevant representatives to publish the detailed electoral results in full transparency, and we ask electoral representatives to immediately share all information with the opposition and independent observers.
“As the process unfolds, we call for maximum restraint in the country and for a peaceful, democratic and Venezuelan-led solution,” they added.
The United Nations also said that its Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela had voiced “deep concern” over reports of human rights abuses following the presidential election in Venezuela.
The UN said the mission has received “credible accounts of detentions, injuries and fatalities linked to violence by security forces and armed civilian groups, known as colectivos, in the wake of President Nicolás Maduro’s declared victory.”
The UN noted that the National Electoral Council announced incumbent President Nicolás Maduro as the winner, “sparking nationwide protests.”
Mission Chair Marta Valiñas stressed the need for public order operations to adhere to international human rights standards, insisting that “the use of force must be proportional and aimed at safeguarding human life.”
Meanwhile, the Washington-headquartered Organization of American States (OAS) said that the Office of the Secretary General has received a report from the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation regarding the presidential electoral process in Venezuela in 2024.
“The obligation of each institution in Venezuela should be to ensure freedom, justice and transparency in the electoral process,” the OAS said. “The people should have the maximum guarantees of political freedom to be able to express themselves at the polls, and to protect the rights of citizens to be elected.
“Throughout this entire electoral process, we saw the application by the Venezuelan regime of its repressive scheme complemented by actions aimed at completely distorting the electoral result, making that result available to the most aberrant manipulation,” it added. “This continues.”
Last week, the London-based Amnesty International sent an open letter to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, calling for urgent action on the commission of crimes under international law in Venezuela.
“Prosecutor Karim Khan’s silence in the face of the crisis in Venezuela is alarming,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director of research, advocacy, policy and campaigns. “His office has witnessed the deaths of dozens of people at the hands of security forces and pro-government armed groups, as well as the arbitrary detention of more than 2,000 people in a matter of days, just for opposing or being perceived to oppose Nicolás Maduro’s government.
“On top of that, we’ve seen attacks, threats and the stigmatization of human rights defenders and civil society organizations that expose the government’s arbitrary actions, and who look to the Office of the Prosecutor as a last resort for justice,” she added. “This tragedy is a consequence of the impunity for serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity that Maduro’s government has been committing for years.
“However, the current increase in the scale and gravity of the acts being carried out against the Venezuelan people demands an urgent acceleration of the investigation into the situation in the country,” Guerrera-Rosas continued. “In concrete terms, we expect the prosecutor to issue a preventive statement as a warning to the perpetrators of possible international crimes and human rights violations.
“We also call on him to publicly support Venezuelan NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and human rights defenders, and to condemn the attacks against those who are being targeted for their tireless work for justice,” she said. “Now more than ever, we need the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to take resolute and immediate action.”
