Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo by Russia's MFA.
On Thursday, November 25, Russia welcomed the broad participation of Venezuela’s opposition in the regional and local elections held last Sunday, and described the intentions of the countries that refuse to recognize the results as “politically motivated hopes to destabilize,” reported the EFE news agency.
“We welcome the participation in the elections of representatives of a broad sector of the opposition,” said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a press conference.
According to the Russian diplomat, this “demonstrates the maturity of the political process in Venezuela and the return of the internal political struggle to the legal electoral route.”
Zakharova congratulated Venezuelans for the results of the elections, and recalled that this process was followed by more than 300 international observers from 55 countries, as well as the European Union, the UN, and the Carter Center of the United States, among others.
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“Russian observers were also present,” she added, “according to whom the elections took place in a peaceful environment, without significant violations, and organized in strict compliance with the laws, and observance of health precautions,” she added.
Zakharova indicated that this was possible “thanks to the constructive interaction between the government and the opposition during the Mexico Talks.”
The Russian diplomat criticized “some countries,” in reference to the United States, Canada, Spain, the European Union, and Colombia, which “deliberately ignore these facts” and “once again question the legitimacy of the elections in Venezuela,” something that has become a “default position.”
Zakharova indicated these types of declarations already “are common,” and as always they lack any evidence, and “confirm the separation from reality of those who formulate them.”
“We consider this to be a politically motivated hope to artificially destabilize the situation in Venezuela, and we reiterate that only the Venezuelan people have the right to define the path of their own development,” Zakharova said.
Featured image: Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photo by Russia’s MFA.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
