BASSETERRE, St. Kitts -- THE recent announcement that Nicolas Maduro won another six-year term as President of Venezuela has spurred large-scale protests in several areas within the South American nation from opposition supporters.
Venezuelans went to the polls on Sunday, and by Monday, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council announced that the incumbent president was re-elected, to the surprise of many disgruntled opposition party supporters. This announcement sparked mass protests and calls for further demonstrations from the opposition, amid concerns about irregularities in the way the polls were conducted.
These concerns have prompted condemnation from the United States and other countries across the Western Hemisphere.
Officials at the US State Department on Monday stated that the elections presented an opportunity for Venezuelan voters “to express their aspirations for a more democratic, prosperous, and stable country.” However, during a press conference, officials noted their “serious concerns that this result does not reflect the will and the votes of the Venezuelan people. By engaging in repression and electoral manipulation, and by declaring a winner without the detailed precinct-by-precinct polling results, or actas in Spanish, to support a claim, Maduro representatives have stripped the supposed election results they announced of any credibility.”
To this end, they urged Maduro and his representatives “to respect the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people and to take immediate steps to restore democratic processes in Venezuela”.
The Guyana Government supported calls for “a transparent process of verification,” which they noted is the will of the Venezuelan people as exercised on July 28, 2024.
Dickon Mitchell, Chair of CARICOM, noted that the matter is one that is domestic to the country and that CARICOM is not divided on the topic of the South American nation. The Grenadian Prime Minister reminded that Venezuela is not a member of the regional bloc, so each territory within the region will have its own approach.
"CARICOM has noted that the elections have taken place. We are happy that the people of venezuela had the opportunity to exercise their democratic right," he told reporters during a press conference to close the 47th Heads of Government Meeting.
United States President Joe Biden also called for the data from the elections to be released.
