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The head of the EU observer mission says that while “better conditions” marked the weekend’s vote, some problems persisted.
The last in Venezuela regional and local elections said they were conducted in better conditions than in previous competitions, said the head of an EU observation mission, despite some irregularities.
Isabel Santos told reporters on Tuesday that EU observers had highlighted the Venezuelan government’s “non-compliance with the rule of law” party, despite “better conditions”. previous competitions.
Santos refused to say whether last weekend’s vote was free and fair.
Some candidates were banned from running for administrative reasons, he said, and some of the most popular leaders opposition parties they were removed without regard to their names.
Sunday’s vote was the first time the Venezuelan-backed U.S.-backed opposition has fielded candidates in four years. A suffered such a failure the governing party won at least 18 of the 23 governors. The Venezuelan government has said its elections are completely free and fair.
The vote was also the first election that EU observers have overseen in the oil-rich nation for 15 years.
The socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro has long suffered from accusations of anti-democratic practices by the United States and other criticisms, even in the presence of EU observers for Sunday’s vote. with little legitimacy on the process.
Maduro said EU observers had done their job “very well”, but other key members of the ruling party referred to the observers as “peepers” and accused them of coming to the country with a previously written report.
The US, too, had observers South American country, who condemned the election on Monday as “terribly crooked”.
“Maduro deprives Venezuelans of the opportunity to shape their future,” said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We call on the Maduro regime to stop the repression and allow the Venezuelans to live in a peaceful, stable and democratic country that they deserve and have long sought.”
Blinken has expressed support for the US opposition leader Juan Guaido, Which Washington is considering as interim president after questioning the legitimacy of Maduro’s last election in 2018.
Weakened and divided, the opposition won only three of the 23 states, although it significantly includes oil-rich Zulia, the country’s most populous region and Maracaibo’s second largest city in Venezuela.
Once a wealthy oil producer, Venezuela is facing its eighth year of recession and hyperinflation, reaching nearly 3,000 percent in 2020 and more than 9,500 percent the previous year, according to data from the central bank.
Three out of four Venezuelans live in extreme poverty, according to a recent study that has exacerbated the economic crisis. U.S. sanctions and coronavirus pandemic.
Santos in the EU said the Venezuelan national electoral authority is more politically balanced than it has been in 20 years, saying it is key to building public confidence.
However, there are other long-standing problems with the country political system follow, he said.
“The campaign was also marked by the widespread use of state resources,” Santos said, and “different access to the media.”
Santos has lamented the murder of a Zulia state voter who was killed while waiting in line. Also, an election observer and two human rights workers have been subjected to “attacks,” Lara said in the state.
More than 1,000 polling stations in 23 states visited 136 EU observers as part of the country’s mission, Santos said. His team will release its final report in late January or early February.
About 42 percent of the electorate voted in the weekend polls.
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