The US and other hemispheric democracies face a high-stakes test of how they will respond to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s claim of re-election victory amid widespread accusations of fraud.
The Biden administration has so far kept its powder dry, but has expressed serious concerns that the published results do not accurately reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.
“It is absolutely critical that every vote is counted fairly and transparently, that election authorities immediately share information with the opposition and independent observers without delay, and that election authorities publish a complete and detailed tabulation of votes,” said John Kirby , White House National Director. Communications advisor to the Security Council.
“We will hold the trial until then; We in the international community are watching and will respond accordingly.”
The wait-and-see approach is, in part, a product of Maduro’s grip on power in the South American country, with a cohesive regime that has few, if any, cracks in its power structures.
But it’s also a recognition that there aren’t many palatable options for tightening the screws on Maduro from the outside.
The Biden administration worked ahead of the election to check safeguards against voter fraud, praising progress toward getting Maduro to even agree to allow opposition candidates and allow election observers into the country. The data collected and testimony from the opposition are seen as fundamental in building the case for any actions that may be imposed against Maduro if his loss is proven.
“You have seen leaders and foreign ministers from around the world make statements of concern that this process needs to be more transparent and reluctance to accept that Maduro would simply be ratified in his position without, at the very least, much greater transparency,” said one high government. official told reporters on Monday.
“This means there is an international consensus moving forward that would have collapsed if not for the actions we took. And it is clear, at least for Maduro’s side, I would say, that a large part of the population is looking for change. And the numbers they released, at the very least, do not reflect the intensity of this desire for change. So I would say we are in a much better position now than we were three years ago.”
The Venezuelan national electoral council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner, but has not yet published the official election results, which were generated automatically at each polling station.
International observers and the opposition have expressed confidence in the Venezuelan electoral system itself: digital election machines count votes and produce a paper version of each vote and a final paper record of the day’s vote totals at each polling station.
Neither the CNE nor Maduro provided receipts, but opposition observers claim to have records for at least 40 percent of the stations.
Those records show opposition candidate Edmundo González with a lead of about 70-30 over Maduro.
“It is simply not mathematically possible that Maduro could win an election with González having received 7 out of 10 votes in the 40 percent of vote tabulations that the opposition had access to,” said Jason Marczak, vice president and senior director of Adrienne of the Council. of the Atlantic. Arsht Latin America Center.
Biden administration officials have highlighted the need for Maduro to show his math before crowning a winner, and the European Union has taken a similar position.
Although Maduro’s victory was quickly recognized by Venezuela’s allies, including Cuba, Russia and Iran, regional leaders with some affinity with Maduro did not join the parade, embarrassing the Venezuelan regime.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in a statement that the publication of the document is “an indispensable step towards the transparency, credibility and legitimacy of the electoral result”.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro did not immediately issue a statement, but Colombia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a saying was “awaiting the release of the electoral results by the National Electoral Council of Venezuela” and added: “The counting of votes must be carried out with all guarantees for all sectors”.
Colombian Foreign Affairs Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo issued a statement with more urgency. “We ask that the full vote count, verification and independent audit proceed as quickly as possible,” he wrote in a statement. post on social platform.
Although the international community has not called Maduro’s actions fraudulent, the Venezuelan opposition is pleased with the global response so far.
“We understand the international community, we understand the subtle approach and the idea of moving forward step by step and building consensus. For us it is very important to keep everyone on the page we are seeing so far, with governments like the Brazilian government, like the Colombian government, like the Chilean government, with the Latin American region being the first to speak and those who speak being the first on electoral integrity and demand and ask that the will of the people be respected and that the results be published in polling stations”, said Miguel Pizarro, opposition representative at the United Nations, in a panel organized by the Atlantic Council.
“I appreciate the US effort and involvement and firmly believe that what the region is doing is a real difference from what we have done in the past. This is not – the regime cannot do the old “imperialism” narrative, that this is something they want to impose on the biggest countries or the biggest economies. This is the world. This is the left, this is the right, this is the center.”
In the United States, condemnation came from all sides, pressuring Maduro to show the recipes.
A motley, bipartisan, bicameral group led by Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) released a statement Monday afternoon saying openly that “dictator Nicolás Maduro has once again stolen a presidential election.”
The statement was joined by Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.) , Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Tim Scott (RS.C.) and Representatives Carlos A. Gimenez (R-Florida), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Florida), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Chris Smith (RN.J.), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fl.), and Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fl.), as well as Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González-Colón (R).
“The Maduro dictatorship is experiencing an internal fracture, and members of the dictatorship know that their status quo, which is full of incompetence, is no longer sustainable”, the statement reads.
“Let there be no doubt: the countries and international organizations that support this fraud of unimaginable proportions must be held accountable, as well as the members of the drug trafficking regime and its ‘National Electoral Council’.”
Maduro’s power structures are increasingly isolated, frightening some of his few allies in the democratic world.
“They are shooting themselves in the foot by prolonging and deepening their crisis of legitimacy, basically their illegitimacy in electoral terms. They scheduled this election to legitimize their government. They have promoted this election for the last two years as a way to establish and put the government on a status quo and an establishment agenda, and what they have really managed to do is increase their isolation,” said Guillermo Aveledo, a professor at the Metropolitan University. from Caracas.
But Maduro may not need allies outside his government.
“I’m not saying they can’t get away with it. I’m saying they missed the true purpose of this election,” said Aveledo.
And the Chávez-Maduro regime is motivated both by its own longevity in the face of international opposition and by the fact that the highest levels of government do not have a Plan B.
“Everyone was waiting for something to happen before the election, like they normally would. They would cancel the election, they would cancel the candidate. They didn’t do that. They stuck with it,” said Dany Bahar, associate professor at Brown University’s Watson Institute.
“I think the impression was not that it would be an obvious victory. [for the opposition]. I mean, they would find a way to change it. You have a lot to lose, right? Yes, everything to lose.”
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
