The Diplomat
The Spanish Government and those of seven other European Union countries (France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Portugal) have signed a joint declaration in which they express their concern about the situation in Venezuela following the elections held last Sunday and ask the Venezuelan authorities to make the electoral records public as soon as possible.
The declaration signed by the President of the French Republic and the heads of government of the rest of the countries mentioned reiterates the calls they had been making separately since the elections took place and Maduro declared himself the winner, in response to protests from the opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.
The text, from the seven leaders, which also warns against arrests and threats to political leaders, states: “We express our great concern about the situation in Venezuela following the presidential elections last Sunday.
We call on the Venezuelan authorities to make all the minutes public as soon as possible in order to guarantee the full transparency and integrity of the electoral process. The opposition indicates that it has collected and published more than 80% of the minutes produced at each polling station. This verification is essential to recognise the will of the Venezuelan people
The rights of all Venezuelans, especially political leaders, must be respected during this process. We strongly condemn any arrest or threat against them.
The will of the Venezuelan people and their right to peaceful protest and freedom of assembly must also be respected.
We will continue to closely monitor the situation together with our partners and support democracy and peace for the Venezuelan people.”
