Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia BĂĄrcena at the United Nations. Photo: El Universal.
Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia support âa Venezuelan solution without interventionâ for Venezuela’s political conflict that originated with the opposition’s nonrecognition of President NicolĂĄs Maduro’s victory in the July 28 presidential elections, said Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia BĂĄrcena.
âWe waited for the Supreme Court [of Venezuela] to make a decision,” said BĂĄrcena at a press conference at the United Nations in New York, United States, on Friday, September 27. “In the end, the three countries, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, are very much in agreement that it has to be a Venezuelan decision: it is the people of Venezuela who have to make the decision.”
The mention of Brazil and Colombia signals a change in the position of the governments of the two countries regarding Venezuela’s internal affairs and its institutions. After the Supreme Court of Venezuela verified the electoral process that gave victory to President Maduro, Braazil and Colombia appear to have become more aligned with the Mexican government’s position, which always upheld the principle of nonintervention in internal affairs.
BĂĄrcena said at the United Nations headquarters that the Venezuelan political issue “is a national problem that has been turned into an international problemâ and called upon the international community âto let Venezuelans make their own decisions with sovereignty.â She further made it clear that Mexico does not support foreign intervention.
âWe believe that the international community should give Venezuelans the opportunity to make their own decisions with sovereignty,” BĂĄrcena emphasized. “We as a country uphold the principles of nonintervention and respect for the sovereignty of other countries.”
âThe three countries, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil, are very much in agreement that this has to be a Venezuelan decision,â she added.
Spain Does Not (Yet) Recognize Edmundo GonzĂĄlez as President of Venezuela
On August 8, the three countries’ governments requested the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) to publish the results of the presidential elections broken down by polling stations in order to dispel doubts and allegations of fraud.
They also requested that the Venezuelan security forces guarantee âthe full exercise of this democratic right within the limits of the law” and “respect for human rights.”
However, after that joint declaration, the presidents and other government officials of Brazil and Colombia made some interventionist statements that were more in line with Washington’s narrative, such as asking for “international verification” of the votes or even the involvement of the Organization of American States (OAS), of which Venezuela is not a member.
The CNE had declared NicolĂĄs Maduro as the winner, with 51.95% of the votes against 43.18% for Edmundo GonzĂĄlez, the candidate of the far-right opposition coalition Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD). The Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court verified that result.
The PUD did not recognize the results, claimed fraud, and announced GonzĂĄlez as president-elect. He initially received the recognition of several Latin American governments when the US recognized him as the winner. Nevertheless, after the US State Department announced that it never recognized GonzĂĄlez as president-elect of Venezuela, most US vassal governments in Latin America took a step back. Earlier this month, GonzĂĄlez left Venezuela, with safe passage provided by the Venezuelan government, and went into exile in Spain.
(Ăltimas Noticias) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SF
