Venezuela’s recent elections have changed beyond previous votes: EU | Political Issues

The head of the EU body said that although “favorable conditions” were known for voting over the weekend, some problems persisted.

Recent Venezuelan regional and by-elections it happened in better conditions than in previous competitions, the head of the European Union said, although there were a number of shortcomings.

Isabel Santos told reporters Tuesday that EU observers had seen “lawlessness” by Venezuela’s ruling party, despite “better conditions” than ever. previous competitions.

Santos declined to say whether he believed the vote last week was free and fair.

Some observers have been banned from running for military reasons, he said, as well as prominent leaders among others. opposition parties their names are not mentioned.

Sunday’s vote was the first in four years for Venezuelan opponents with US-backed election. It suffered a severe defeat and the ruling party has won 18 of the 23 states. The Venezuelan government says its elections are free and fair.

The vote was also the first EU-watched observer in an oil-rich country in 15 years.

President Nicolas Maduro’s Socialist Government has long been facing anti-democratic charges from the United States and other dissidents, though Sunday’s turnout is seen by some as an opportunity to vote. modicum of legitimacy on the plan.

Maduro said EU officials had done their job “very well”, but some ruling party officials called observers “supervisors” and criticized them for arriving in the country with a preliminary report.

US, which also had viewers in South America, criticized the election as “extremely disruptive” on Monday.

“Maduro has robbed Venezuelans of their opportunity to shape their own future,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We call on the Maduro government to end the oppression and allow the Venezuelan people to live in a peaceful, stable and democratic country that they should seek for a long time.”

Blinken reiterated US support for the opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Washington considers a long-term president after questioning the legitimacy of the 2018 Maduro general election.

Weak and fragmented, the opposition won only three of the 23 states, though this also included Zulia, the richest oil producer – the most populous region in the country with Maracaibo’s capital and second largest city in Venezuela.

Once in oil production, Venezuela is battling its eighth year of recession and recession that reached nearly 3,000 percent in 2020 and more than 9,500 percent last year, according to central bank figures.

Three quarters of Venezuelans live in extreme poverty, according to a recent survey, and economic woes are worsening US sanctions and coronavirus.

Santos of the EU says Venezuela’s electoral authorities are more politically stable than they have been for 20 years – which he said is important for people to trust each other.

However, some problems have existed for a long time with the country politics go ahead, he said.

“The campaign was also known for its increased use of public resources,” Santos said, as well as “reaching out to the media.”

Santos complained about the murder of a Zulia state voter who was killed while waiting in line. He also said that an election observer and two human rights activists had witnessed “violence” in Lara state.

More than 1,000 polling stations in 23 states were visited by 136 EU observers as part of their work in the country, Santos said. His team will issue a final report in late January or early February.

About 42 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots over the weekend.