Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil next to an image of the Venezuelan flag and coat of arms. Photo: Banca y Negocios/File photo.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil repudiated the interventionist statements made by the Foreign Ministries of Colombia and Brazil regarding the presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
In a statement published on Tuesday, March 26, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry noted that the candidates’ registration process in Venezuela “is not compatible with the Barbados Agreements.”
“With the deadline for registering candidates for the Venezuelan presidential elections having passed, last night, March 25, the Brazilian government is following with concern the development of the electoral process in that country,” the Brazilian government’s statement reads. “Based on available information, we have noted that the candidate nominated by the Unitary Platform, an opposition political force, against whom there were no judicial sentences, was prevented from registering, which is not compatible with the Barbados agreements. The impediment has not, to date, been the subject of any official explanation.”
The registration process of candidates for the presidential elections in Venezuela has been criticized in Venezuela by both Chavistas and opposition analysts due to the opacity and the lack of information from the National Electoral Council (CNE), thus creating unnecessary concerns about the process.
However, on Tuesday, the matter was partially cleared by a CNE press conference as well as by the reports from journalists following the process, explaining that 12 opposition candidates had registered, and two of them, Manuel Rosales of Un Nuevo Tiempo and Edmundo González Urrutia of the Unitary Platfrom (PUD), representing far-right opposition forces, registered at the last minute.
According to most Venezuelan journalists, González will be a provisional option, until the Unitary Platform agrees on a candidate, as there seems to be uncertainties around the possibility of enrolling Corina Yoris, the option chosen by María Corina Machado, though the uncertainties have not been explained by the Venezuelan electoral authorities.
On the other hand, Manuel Rosales’s registration, according to analysts, might represent a significant rupture among far-right opposition forces as it contradicts Machado’s rule, but it might also be an opposition strategy to guarantee an electoral presence in the presidential race.
Empujada por la necesidad de complacer los designios del Departamento de Estado de los EEUU, la Cancillería colombiana da un paso en falso y comete un acto de grosera injerencia en asuntos que solo le competen a los venezolanos.
Venezuela ha sido siempre respetuosa de los… https://t.co/D1lU1uRwf6
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) March 26, 2024
In response to the Brazilian statement, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Gil published an official statement and wrote on social media, “The Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Relations of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela repudiates the interventionist statement of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, which appears to have been dictated by the US Department of State, issuing loaded comments marked by profound ignorance about the political reality in Venezuela.”
The Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement on Tuesday, similar to the Brazilian one. After reiterating its utmost respect for the autonomy and sovereignty of Venezuela, and explaining that it has monitored very closely the candidates’ registration process, the Colombian government stressed the necessity of “free, fair, and competitive” elections in Venezuela.
“At the same time, it reiterates the need for a free, fair, and competitive presidential electoral process in Venezuela, where citizen participation is promoted through voting as a mechanism of democratic expression,” reads the statement. “Colombia expresses its concern about the recent events that occurred on the occasion of the registration of some presidential candidacies, particularly concerning the difficulties faced by the majority sectors of the opposition, such as the Democratic Unitary Platform and the Vente Venezuela Movement, among others, which could affect the confidence of some sectors of the international community in the transparency and competitiveness of the electoral process that will culminate with the presidential elections on July 28.”
In response, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil posted a confrontational tweet, accusing the Colombian Foreign Ministry of being directed by the US government despite the foreign minister “having accurate first-hand information,” without clarifying to what information he referred.
Twelve Opposition Candidates Register for Venezuela’s July 28 Presidential Elections
“Driven by the need to please the designs of the US State Department, the Colombian Foreign Ministry takes a false step and commits an act of gross interference in matters that only concern Venezuelans,” Gil wrote on social media. “Venezuela has always been respectful of the complex political processes in Colombia, even in times of violence and great divisions. Making wrong judgments, even when Foreign Minister Luis Murillo had accurate first-hand information, is not only an act of bad faith but also intends to undermine the process of normalization of diplomatic, political, and commercial relations, which has been promoted by our presidents.”
He also questioned the silence of the Brazilian and Colombian authorities amid the several assassination and destabilization plots that have been foiled by Venezuelan security agencies. The latest such plot was thwarted on Monday, March 25, when some Vente Venezuela activists, carrying weapons in a Chavista march where president Maduro was scheduled to give a speech, were arrested. Most of these terrorist plotters belong to or have connections with María Corina Machado’s Vente Venezuela party.
In recent months the Venezuelan government and many Chavista leaders have condemned the impudence of the US-led “international community” demanding “free, fair, and competitive elections” in Venezuela while the main Chavista candidate, Nicolás Maduro has a $10 million bounty on his head imposed by the US, administers a country hampered by more than 900 illegal sanctions, and is constantly the subject of assassination plots by far-right opposition politicians backed by the US government.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SC
