A voter deposits a voting receipt in a Venezuelan polling station. File photo.
The American Association of Jurists (AAJ) condemned the United States its allies for interventionist actions against the July 28 Venezuelan presidential elections, using hegemonic media and social media to build the narrative of an alleged electoral fraud.
Through a statement issued on Friday, July 26, the AAJ stated that the US interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela began “with a widespread media campaign where various personalities of the United States and allied governments openly called to vote for the opposition.”
“In the last few days, probably because they realized that the aforementioned campaign did not produce the expected results, they began to create the narrative of the possibility of an electoral fraud,” the AAJ statement continued. “In several statements they ask the people to vote for the opposition and falsely claim to have evidence of the alleged alteration of the electoral result by the government headed by Nicolás Maduro.”
🔴 La Asociación Americana de Juristas denunció acciones y declaraciones perjudiciales sobre las elecciones del 28Jul.
🗣️ Exhortamos a los gobiernos y sus representantes a no realizar declaraciones que alienten un cruento enfrentamiento en la sociedad venezolana, e insistimos en… pic.twitter.com/tbOwbEP7XC
— 𝙋𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖 (@polianalitica) July 27, 2024
The statement added that the maneuvers are very similar to those that led to the coup d’état against former Bolivian President Evo Morales in 2019, with the proven participation of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union. The coup left dozens of dead and wounded and hundreds of political prisoners, and stripped Bolivia of strategic resources for over a year.
The document further stated that the AAJ “has accredited international observers accompanying the July 28 electoral process in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. We have verified that, as in previous elections, it is one of the most comprehensive and secure electoral systems, solely administered by the National Electoral Council.”
In this regard, the statement added that in terms of technology, the Venezuelan electoral system goes through 16 audits in various aspects, and these audits are reviewed and certified by all political organizations participating in the elections.
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“In addition, the voting centers are subject to citizen verification, with provisions such as 30 members for each voting table, even though only three will exercise the function, together with the witnesses designated by each political party—all this following detailed rules and regulations of constitutional rank,” the statement said,.
The text also highlighted that “the principle of non-intervention implies the right of every sovereign State to conduct its affairs without foreign interference,” referring to the Charter of the United Nations and resolutions of the UN General Assembly which mandate that UN member States must refrain from intervening in the internal affairs of other member States.
“Historically, the weaker States have clung to the principle of non-intervention as the only legal protection against the expansionist ambitions of the more powerful countries,” the AAJ statement specified. “Thus, the Charter of the United Nations, in its Article 19, determines that ‘No State or group of States has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, and for any reason whatsoever, in the internal or external affairs of any other State or group of States.’ This principle prohibits not only the use of armed force but also any other form of interference or tendency to infringe upon the nature of the State and the political, economic and cultural elements that constitute it.”
The AAJ emphasized that in view of this, it joins the pronouncements of intellectuals, social, cultural and professional movements and organizations and progressive forces in repudiating the threats of destabilization by the United States and its allies.
“We urge governments and their representatives not to make statements that may encourage a violent confrontation in Venezuelan society, and we insist that the path of solidarity and peaceful cooperation among peoples must be resumed,” the document concluded.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
