The 16 member countries in the regional political action, the Lima Group, which recognizes Juan Guaido as the president in charge of Venezuela, said Monday, December 7, that there was a lack of legality and legitimacy in the parliamentary elections of December 6. With 31% participation, the Maduro administration took the majority of the votes after the absence of the opposition.
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Even the turnout officially admitted by the Nicolas Maduro regime tells something is off with the 2020 parliamentary elections: only 31% of voters showed up, according to them when in 2015 voter participation was of a massive, staggering 74.2%, a record for parliamentary elections.
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, and Saint Lucia, consider that the results of the parliamentarians “lack legality and legitimacy,” due to the lack of trust in the Venezuelan Electoral Council designated by the Supreme Court, controlled by the Maduro regime.
Neither the European Union nor the United States recognizes the vote either. EU sent a delegation asking Maduro to delay the vote so safeguards could be implemented earlier this year, but Maduro declined.
Through a communique, the nations reiterated that: “the elections carried out without the minimum guarantees of a democratic process, freedom, security, and transparency. There was no of the integrity of the votes, no participation of all the political forces, nor international observation.”
Furthermore, the Lima Group called on the international community to join in the rejection of these elections and to support efforts for the recovery of democracy, respect for human rights, and the rule of law in Venezuela.
Finally, they called upon the different political tendencies to put the interests of Venezuela above and urgently commit to a transition process, defined and driven by Venezuelans, to find a peaceful and constitutional way out to lead the country as soon as possible to free, fair and credible presidential and parliamentary elections.
Additional reporting by Carlos Camacho.
