Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machadohas rejected this Thursday the proposal put forward by the presidents of Brazil and Colombia, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Gustavo Petrorespectively, to repeat the presidential elections in Venezuela, after the opposition’s allegations of fraud following the proclamation of Nicolas Maduro as the winner of the election.
The regime, through its number two Diosdado Cabellohad already completely rejected the proposal to repeat elections. And that is the only point on which they agree with the opposition.
“We’re going to have a second election, and if we don’t like the results, what are we going to do, a third one? And a fourth? And a fifth until Maduro likes the results? “Would you and your countries accept that? If the result is not satisfactory, then the election is repeated?” he asked in an interview, an extract of which he shared through his profile on the social network X.
He also reiterated that his candidate, Edmundo Gonzalezwon the elections despite “the rules of tyranny” and despite being warned that “there was going to be a monumental fraud” that they would not “be able to prove.” “We trust in the citizen organization. There were people who risked their lives, their family, their home. Others were murdered. Today they are in prison, in hiding,” he criticized.
“To propose to ignore what happened on July 28, for me, is a lack of respect for the Venezuelans who have given everything and who expressed popular sovereignty. Popular sovereignty is respected and the elections have already taken place,” Machado stressed. The former opposition candidate has expressed himself in the same vein: “The presidential elections in Venezuela were held on July 28 and Edmundo González Urrutia won overwhelmingly. We reiterate our commitment to democracy, peace and Venezuela.”
Lula said during the day that there were two options, forming a coalition government or calling new elections with the presence of observers from around the world. For his part, Petro proposed a “transitory cohabitation government” and new “free elections.” Meanwhile, the president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obradorhas considered that it is not “prudent” for a foreign government to express an opinion on an issue that is up to Venezuelans to resolve.
According to the results released by the National Electoral Council (CNE)Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won nearly 52 percent of the vote in the July 28 election, although the opposition claims victory for its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez. The international community has since called for transparency and the publication of the results.
