The Diplomat The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, insisted yesterday that if the president of Venezuela refuses to show the minutes, there can be no verification of the results of the elections held in that country on July 28. Borrell made these statements at a press conference in Santander, where he is to lead the course ‘Quo Vadis Europa?’ organized every year by the European External Action Service, at the Menéndez Pelayo International University. The High Representative again demanded that the electoral minutes be published, indicating that he sees “clearly” that Maduro refuses to do so, and stating: “He should have done so already, he has had time.” He then added that “if there is no verification of the results, the results cannot be accepted.” Borrell said verbatim: “If Maduro insists on saying that he has won and does not want to understand that, for the international community, without verification there is no acceptance of results, Venezuela could enter into a serious crisis. We are all trying to prevent this from happening.” “I know that Maduro has dedicated very affectionate words to me, it is not the first time, but I have to insist on the same thing: If the results cannot be verified, they cannot be accepted and, for the moment, they are not verifiable. Well, better said, they are through the information provided by the opposition,” he indicated, alluding to the fact that the Venezuelan opposition has managed to gather “80% or more” of the minutes and they give a result “radically different from that which Maduro claims.” In addition, Borrell considered “the height of sarcasm” that Maduro has appealed to the Supreme Court of Venezuela to “defend him.” “I don't know what sentence they will issue because their role is not to count the election results,” he said, recalling that this task corresponds to the National Electoral Council, which, on the other hand, is controlled by Maduro. The high representative has called for waiting to see what happens in the next few days, although he stressed that there are more than 2,000 people detained and “the repression is intensifying.” Borrell expressed his confidence that the international community will maintain its demand for verification of the results, and on the proposal of “some Latin American country,” in reference to that made by the president of Brazil, Luiz Inàcio Lula da Silva, to repeat elections and share power between the Government and the opposition, he replied: “I don't know how to do that.” Podemos asks for the minutes to be published Podemos MEP Irene Montero also called on the Government of Nicolás Maduro to publicly show the minutes of the elections. "It is evident that there must be a sample," she said, when asked about what is happening in Venezuela. The former minister stated that "in Venezuela, democracy must prevail without interference of any kind and respecting the sovereignty of Venezuelans," and pointed out that what the main countries of the world are asking for is "that we can see these minutes, so that, once seen, we can respect the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people."
