Guyana backs call for Venezuela vote verification

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 July 2024, 20:50 by Writer

Guyana on Tuesday backed growing international calls for votes cast in Venezuela’s controversial presidential elections to be verified, even as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) remained divided on supporting the declaration of Nicolás Maduro as the winner.

“Guyana therefore, supports the call for a transparent process of verification of the will of the Venezuelan people as exercised on July 28, 2024. The people of Venezuela deserve nothing less,” the Guyana government said in a statement.

President Irfaan Ali said “we are not commenting on whether the process is fair”. He told a closing CARICOM summit press conference that Guyana endorses the international call for one of the electoral process to be “activated.” “Our statement is factual in nature. That is, every mechanism that is provided for in the electoral system must be adhered to and if there are calls for, and there are calls from the international community and the opposition for one aspect of that process to be activated and we support that call because it is part of the electoral system,” he said.

The Guyana government said elections are about people exercising their constitutional right to elect a government of their choice in a free, fair and transparent process. “It behooves all to ensure the integrity of that process through the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and strict adherence to the rule of law, including the rules governing elections, to guarantee respect for the will of the people,” the statement said.

Georgetown’s statement is in stark contrast to unequivocal support by the Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Dr Ralph Gonsalves and Dominica’s President, Roosevelt Skerritt. St Lucia’s Prime Minister, Phillip J. Pierre was somewhat cautious in his statement, saying much depends on audits of the results and if they show that Mr Maduro has won, then he should be recognised by the international community. “The results that have been declared say that President Maduro has won. I can’t make any firm statement, in terms of what is out now is that President Maduro has won. I hope after all the audits are done, after the independent observers give their reports, I’m sure that you get to a position where the result can be sustained and the results can be accepted by the world,” he was quoted as saying by the Caribbean Media Corporation.

Asked why CARICOM leaders did not issue a united statement on the need for verification of the votes cast, CARICOM Chairman, Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said the question presumed that there was no verification process in Venezuela.