_{Photo: Venezuela nationals protest the result of their country’s presidential election, in Quito Ecuador, Saturday, Aug.3, 2024 (AP Photo/Carlos Noriega)}

Arrests increase in Venezuela following disputed election, Global voices express concern by Marco Lopez

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Aug. 5, 2024

Belize abstained from an Organization of American States (OAS) vote on a resolution calling on the government of Venezuela to release verified results from the July 28, 2024, election. Belize and ten others abstained from participating in the July 31 vote organized by the OAS.

Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in comments to local media last Friday explained, “Belize abstained in terms of that resolution because we really want to get more information. We’re not satisfied that we’ve been provided with sufficient, reliable information, so we join with those who are saying we need more transparency, we need more information provided, more data provided.”

While Venezuelan authorities have declared President Nicolas Maduro as the winner of the elections, they have yet to produce voting tallies to prove he won. Meanwhile, thousands of Venezuelans from Caracas and across Latin America are protesting in support of the opposition candidate they believe won the presidential elections by a landslide.

A report published by the Department of Electoral Cooperation and Observation (DECO) of the OAS states, “Under the current circumstances, the results announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaiming Nicolás Maduro the winner in the presidential election of Sunday, July 28 in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela cannot be recognized.”

A release published by the OAS following the report states, “Throughout this entire electoral process, we saw the application by the Venezuelan regime of its repressive scheme complemented by actions aimed at completely distorting the electoral result, making that result available to the most aberrant manipulation. This continues.”

The opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, and her hand-picked presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez have already presented minutes showing that they won the elections. [Meanwhile,] Venezuela’s National Electoral Council has released two bulletins confirming President Maduro’s victory despite the tensions and claims of fraud.

On Friday, Belize’s Fonseca said the country will, as has been the best practice in the past, work through the regional blocs it belongs to, namely CARICOM and SICA, and avoid making a unilateral declaration on the matter.

“We’ve discussed this matter at the CARICOM level, not yet at SICA but at the CARICOM level, we’ve discussed this matter. Obviously, there are different points of view; but the great majority of the CARICOM countries abstained in terms of that resolution for the very reason I stated, that they need to see more information, they need to have more data presented to them. We are absolutely committed in CARICOM and as Belize to ensuring that there are free and fair elections in Venezuela; that’s critically important,” Fonseca said.

While Venezuela has been a long-time supporter of Belize and the Caribbean region through its Petrocaribe program, Fonseca explains the future of diplomatic relations rests in the decision that will be made by the Latin American petrostate within the coming days and weeks.

Fonseca explains, “If they do what they say they are going to do, which is to be completely transparent, to produce all the records from the voting, to provide the data in an open, transparent manner to the public, to the press, to observers, then we will be guided by that. If they do not do that, then we will have to have our own discussion here in Belize and also in CARICOM and SICA.”

For Venezuelans, the 15-year reign under the Maduro regime is being received with mixed feelings; many are now disenchanted with what can be considered failed policies promulgated under Maduro and Chavisomo ideology.

A free fall marked by hyperinflation and widespread shortage, largely driven by oil sanctions imposed by the United States of America, has further crippled the country and led to more than 7.7 million Venezuelans fleeing the country – the largest Latin American exodus recorded to date.

On Saturday, President Maduro announced that over 2,000 protestors were arrested at a rally in the capital, Caracas.

On Sunday, the OAS called for a day of peace and reconciliation in the Bolivarian Republic.

“Let there be a profound meaning of peace in the actions of every Venezuelan man and woman; let there be no place for a single repressor or a single repressed person. The ‘peace’ of repression, fear, and terror is not peace,” the release stated.

We tried to contact the Venezuelan Ambassador to Belize, Gerado Argote, but received no reply.