Venezuela: Both Sides Reject International Calls for New Elections
Nicolás Maduro's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), as well as the opposition camp, have rejected calls from Brazil and Colombia for either fresh elections or a power-sharing deal to solve the ongoing political crisis....
Facts
- Nicolás Maduro's ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), as well as the opposition camp, have rejected calls from Brazil and Colombia for either fresh elections or a power-sharing deal to solve the ongoing political crisis.[1][2]
- Opposition leader María Corina Machado argued Thursday such plans would be 'an insult' to the people, while her supporters rallied on Saturday to denounce official results as voting data has yet to be released three weeks after the election.[3][4]
- Also on Thursday, Maduro stressed that other countries should not meddle in the internal affairs of Venezuela and engage in 'microphone diplomacy.' Pro-PSUV rallies were also expected to take place on Saturday to celebrate his victory.[5][6]
- Electoral authorities declared him the winner of the July 28 contest with 51% of the vote, but tally sheets in the hands of the opposition purport to show that Edmundo González won the election. On Thursday, US Pres. Joe Biden appeared to support a redo vote but the White House later walked back his comments.[7][8]
- Meanwhile, Brazil's Pres. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that Venezuela is under a 'very unpleasant regime' with an authoritarian bias — though not a 'dictatorship' — adding that he had not recognized Maduro's claimed victory.[9][10]
- The Organization of American States (OAS) passed a resolution on Friday calling for the release of election records, including a detailed breakdown of the vote. The European Union and 22 other countries also urged an 'impartial verification' of the results.[4]
Sources: [1]EL PAÍS English, [2]France 24, [3]Associated Press, [4]Al Jazeera, [5]teleSURenglish, [6]Últimas Noticias, [7]FOX News, [8]Forbes, [9]Guardian and [10]Financial Times.
Narratives
- Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Council on Foreign Relations. González is the rightful president-elect of Venezuela — and any observer of the vote agrees to that — so a new election only serves the interest of the Maduro dictatorship. World democracies must join forces to put pressure on Maduro to respect the true election result and leave office, not to call for a fresh vote whose outcome Maduro would also fail to respect.
- Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Peoplesdispatch. Venezuela is a sovereign nation with well-established democratic processes and institutions, so internal problems must be solved without the meddling of any foreign government. It's outrageous that the world is falling for fraud claims from the country's far-right, which are essentially the same thing their allies in Brazil and the US resorted to in previous elections.
