Far-right Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado holding a poster for the PUD candidate Edmundo González, during a political rally in Maracaibo, Zulia state. Photo: X/@ReporteYa.
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) deputy to the Venezuelan National Assembly (AN), Francisco Torrealba, denounced a new manipulation tactic from the oppositional presidential candidate, Edmundo González, of the far-right Unitary Platform party (PUD). González claims that he was not invited by the National Electoral Council (CNE) to sign the anti-guarimbas agreement last Thursday.
During an interview, Torrealba described the excuse that González gave for refusing to sign the agreement that would recognize the results of the July 28 presidential elections and reject violence as absurd.
Torrealba said, “He is not right, it is absurd that this candidate tries to come and be manipulative by saying that he was not invited.”
He then pointed out that Venezuela knows that the invitation from the National Electoral Council (CNE) was open, because 80% of the candidates attended.
"No es cierto, todo el país sabe que esa invitación fue abierta, todo el país sabe que acudió esa amplísima mayoría del 80% de los candidatos. No tiene razón, es absurdo que ese candidato pretenda venir a manipular diciendo que no lo invitaron" @torrealbaf Dip. AN#23Jun pic.twitter.com/lVucdi0dpm
— Margarita Oropeza (@moropeza_vv) June 23, 2024
Edmundo González’s manipulation is not new, given that he recently made other statements in which he lied to the Venezuelan people. González said that the illegal sanctions imposed by the United States against the country do not affect ordinary citizens. His statement doesn’t take into account that international organizations and Venezuelan business sectors have recognized the negative effects on the economic growth of Venezuela.
Last Thursday, 8 out of the 10 candidates participating in the presidential elections signed an agreement at the CNE headquarters, in which they committed to recognizing the results of the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
The presidential candidates that attended the call were Nicolás Maduro, Luis Eduardo Martínez, Daniel Ceballos, and Antonio Ecarri. Also joining them were Benjamín Rausseo, José Brito, Claudio Fermín and Javier Bertucci.
However, the candidates Edmundo González and Enrique Marquéz did not attend the signing ceremony.
For weeks now, the PSUV and political analysts have warned that the Venezuelan far-right will claim fraud on July 28, and in this way ignore the will of the citizens who exercised their right to vote.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/MCM
