Venezuela's National Electoral Council authorities bid farewell to the United Nations delegation of electoral experts, who were in the country in preparation for the July 28 presidential elections. Photo: CNE.
A United Nations delegation of electoral experts will join the broad group of international observers who plan to accompany the upcoming Venezuelan presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
A UN exploratory delegation for the July 28 elections were received by the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela on Tuesday, April 23, and a memorandum of understanding was signed for the UN delegation’s participation in the upcoming elections.
On Monday, the team of UN electoral experts was received by the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil, who discussed with the experts issues related to national sovereignty and respect for the Venezuelan legal framework.
Minister Gil wrote on social media, “We have met with the UN Electoral Technical Team to discuss the presidential elections of July 28 and national sovereignty. As part of its visit to our country, in the coming days the UN team will also hold meetings with representatives of the public powers and actors from various political groups that will be part of the upcoming electoral process.”
The UN delegation was made up of eight experts: the head of the delegation, Jorge Alberto Grayeb Munayer; the political affairs officer of the Americas Division of the United Nation’s Department of Political Affairs and Peacebuilding, Fiorella Triscritti Benitez; the regional expert on electoral issues for Latin America of the United Nations Program (UNDP), Juan Luis Martinez-Betanzos; the resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator of the United Nations in Venezuela, Gianluca Rampolla del Tindaro; the resident representative of the UNDP in Venezuela, Magdy Martínez Solimán; the special advisor for the UN of the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Venezuela, Antonio Aranibar; the analysis officer of the Office of the Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System in Venezuela, Armando Díaz; and the representative of UN Women in El Salvador and gender advisor in the Office of the Resident Coordinator of the UN System in Venezuela, Miriam Bandes.
This group of experts joins the list of international electoral observers that have arrived in the country, including the Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America, and the Strategic Thinking Observatory for Regional Integration, with whom the CNE has already signed memorandums of understanding.
In these memorandums the CNE undertakes to provide access to all information and documents related to the electoral process, facilitate the work of observers in the voting centers in order to address observations and recommendations, and demand respect for the Venezuelan electoral and legal framework.
(Últimas Noticias) by Gustavo Rangel, with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/MCM
