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The situation in Venezuela continues to be worrying. So much so that Emmanuel Macron and Lula da Silva said on Monday that they supported “the Venezuelan people’s aspiration for a transparent election” after the widely contested re-election of President Nicolás Maduro. The two leaders “called on the authorities to publish all the polling station reports.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday they support “the aspiration of the Venezuelan people for a transparent election” after the widely contested re-election of President Nicolás Maduro. “We support with Lula the aspiration of the Venezuelan people for a transparent election. This requirement is at the heart of any democracy,” Emmanuel Macron wrote on the social network X after a telephone conversation with the Brazilian president.
“The Venezuelan government (must) imperatively return to the path of dialogue”
The two leaders “called on Venezuelan authorities to publish all polling station reports in order to guarantee the transparency and integrity of the electoral process,” according to the transcript of their telephone conversation published by the Élysée Palace. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council ratified Nicolás Maduro’s victory on Friday with 52% of the vote against 43% for Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a widely contested result. The unrest that followed this proclamation left 13 dead and more than 2,000 people arrested, Nicolás Maduro said. Two members of the National Guard were killed, he said. NGOs reported 11 civilians killed.
The French and Brazilian presidents “place the utmost importance on ensuring that the right of Venezuelans to demonstrate and assemble freely is fully respected. The threats and arrests targeting politicians (go) against the fundamental principles of democracy,” added the Élysée. “The Venezuelan authorities (must) imperatively return to the path of dialogue to ensure that the will of the Venezuelan people is respected,” continued the French presidency, at a time when international pressure is increasing on Nicolás Maduro.
The results of this election “cannot be recognized,” the European Union said on Sunday, with Pope Francis calling for “the search for the truth.” Unlike the United States and several other countries, the EU, however, has refrained from formally recognizing Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia’s victory.
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