The European Union (EU) expressed its deep concern over the outcome of the presidential elections in Venezuela on July 28 and warned the authorities of Nicolás Maduro's regime to restrain the repression of protesters.
The High Representative of the EU, the Spanish Josep Borrell, issued a statement underscoring that reports from international electoral observation missions indicate that these elections did not meet international standards of electoral integrity.
"Despite its commitment, the National Electoral Council of Venezuela (CNE) has not yet published the voting records from the polling stations. Without evidence to support them, the results published on August 2 by the CNE cannot be recognized," Borrell stated.
Pressing the Maduro regime to publish the voting records, the statement asserted that “any attempt to delay their full publication will only cast more doubt on the credibility of the officially published results.”
In this regard, he highlighted the strategy followed by the leader María Corina Machado of publishing the records in the possession of the opposition (more than 80%), which have been reviewed by various independent organizations, indicating a significant victory for Edmundo González Urrutia.
For this reason, the EU requested greater independent verification of the electoral registers, to be carried out by an entity of international reputation.
The declaration of European diplomacy arises in a context of growing tension and protests in Venezuela. The EU emphasized the importance of authorities, including security forces, fully respecting human rights and freedoms of expression and assembly.
"The European Union is seriously concerned about the increasing number of arbitrary detentions and the ongoing harassment of the opposition. The European Union calls on the Venezuelan authorities to put an end to arbitrary detentions, repression, and violent rhetoric against opposition members and civil society, and to release all political prisoners," urged the High Representative.
This position of the EU adds to other international reactions. The United States recognized González Urrutia as the legitimate winner of the elections. Meanwhile, countries like Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, and Costa Rica have expressed their support for the opposition diplomat. Spain and six other European countries signed a joint statement requesting the records from Venezuela.
For its part, the Carter Center denounced the lack of integrity in the electoral process, highlighting significant irregularities and problems. The opposition, led by figures like Machado, has been publishing the voting records in their possession to support their claims of electoral fraud.
The EU and other international actors are closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela, pressing for transparency to be guaranteed and the will of the people to be respected, the statement concluded.
Maduro's reaction
After the statement from the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Maduro said this Sunday that the European Union and Josep Borrell are a "shame," according to El Diario.
"The European Union brings out its rhetoric, the same European Union that recognized (Juan) Guaidó. It is a disgrace, the European Union is a disgrace, Mr. Borrell is a disgrace, it is a disgrace that led Ukraine into a war and now washes its hands," expressed the president at an event with the Bolivarian National Guard, the militarized police force that plays a leading role in the repression in Venezuela.
Maduro criticized the EU for asking the authorities to respect the protesters. "Now he says that there is repression of peaceful protests in Venezuela, says Mr. Borrell. 'Peaceful? When they attack the population, hospitals, schools, bus units, metro stations?'" he questioned.
The European Union and relations with the Maduro regime
The European Union, a global power perceived as an international actor without effective tools to project its power, has been critical since its beginnings of the regime of Nicolás Maduro, inherited after the death of the Bolivarian leader Hugo Chávez.
At the same time that it has pointed out the violation of fundamental rights and freedoms of Venezuelans, the EU has always shown a willingness to engage in dialogue and negotiation with the authorities of the regime to achieve guarantees that allow Venezuelans to exercise their rights and express their will as sovereigns.
However, trained in the diplomacy of Havana, the hierarchs of Maduro's regime have been able to use the EU's natural predisposition to reinforce and perpetuate their dictatorial power, dragging out negotiating processes that ultimately prove fruitless.
In May 2018, the then High Representative of the EU for Foreign Policy, Federica Mogherini, stated that the elections in which Maduro was re-elected with a high level of abstention had been plagued by "irregularities."
In a statement, the official emphasized that "the presidential and regional elections (in Venezuela) were held without a national agreement on an electoral calendar and without meeting the minimum international standards for a credible process."
"Great obstacles to the participation of opposition political parties and their leaders, an unbalanced composition of the National Electoral Council, biased electoral conditions, numerous irregularities reported on election day, including vote buying, hindered fair and equitable elections," Mogherini listed.
In January 2019, Mogherini urged Venezuela to hold free, transparent, and credible presidential elections to choose a government that truly represented the will of its citizens.
"If there is no announcement about the organization of new elections with the necessary guarantees in the coming days, the EU will take further measures, including regarding the recognition of the country's leadership in line with Article 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution," Mogherini stated in a statement.
In December 2020, the EU questioned the legitimacy of the parliamentary elections held in Venezuela, in which the ruling socialist party gained control of congress. Stating that these elections were not free and fair, the European bloc rejected the outcome and urged Maduro to outline a path towards national reconciliation.
"The results cannot be recognized by the European Union," declared the then High Representative, Josep Borrell.
In February 2022, the EU imposed sanctions on 19 high-ranking Venezuelan officials, legislators, and members of the security forces in response to the December legislative elections, which the bloc deemed to be rigged in favor of Nicolás Maduro.
With them, the total number of Venezuelans included in the EU blacklist rose to 55 regime officials. In Caracas, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza rejected the new sanctions.
"Pointing at honorable citizens with false arguments, as a reaction to the frustration of a group of member states of the European Union due to the evident ineffectiveness of their actions to force a change of government by force in Venezuela, is nothing more than another clumsy decision," said the current Minister of Communes and Social Movements.
In October 2021, the Venezuelan regime described the EU's electoral observation mission during the country's elections in November of that year as a "interventionist pretense," after Borrell stated that they would audit the process and that the European observer mission would be the greatest assurance for the opposition in the elections.
"The government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reaffirms that it will not accept any interference, and that an electoral observation mission with the characteristics described by Mr. Borrell will not be accepted by our country," said the statement released by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry on Twitter.
After the elections were held, Maduro accused the members of the EU Electoral Observation Mission who supervised them of being "spies," and added that their preliminary report aims to "stain" the elections.
The EU mission presented a document on the elections in which it stated that there were better conditions than in previous contests, but arbitrary situations were recorded such as the disqualification of candidates, delays in the opening and closing of polling stations, as well as the "widespread use of state resources in the campaign."
"They looked in a report full of improvisations and poorly written, they tried to tarnish the electoral process and they could not. A delegation of spies, they were not observers, were freely deployed across the country spying on the social, economic, and political life of the country," said the same ruler who has been rigging all the electoral processes since arriving in power in March 2013.
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