Pressure to Transparently Disclose Voting Results
Deep Concerns Over Failure to Reflect Public Will,
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro celebrates his third successful election victory in Caracas on the 29th, raising both fists in joy. Caracas=AFP Yonhap News,
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, ‘The U.S. government indicated that it could impose additional sanctions on Venezuela, where there are allegations of fraudulent elections, urging for the transparent disclosure of the presidential election results.’,
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, ‘On the 29th local time, a senior official of the Biden administration stated during a briefing, “The most serious concern is the discrepancy between the election results announced by the Venezuelan government and our own analysis and data,” emphasizing the need for a prompt investigation and resolution of such discrepancies.’,
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, ‘Furthermore, the official stated, “We are potentially facing new scenarios regarding sanctions,” and mentioned that the future U.S. sanctions policy against Venezuela will depend on whether the Nicolas Maduro government fully discloses the election results. The U.S. has already imposed sanctions on Venezuela citing the possibility of dictatorship.’,
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, ‘However, the official added that the U.S. does not consider canceling the sanctions relief granted to energy companies like Chevron operating in Venezuela. It was initially reported that the U.S. eased some sanctions based on Venezuela’s promise to conduct fair elections.’,
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, ‘During the briefing, another senior official expressed serious concerns about the lack of credibility in the election results announced by declaring Maduro as the winner without disclosing detailed constituency results, stating, “Maduro’s proxies have deprived themselves of the credibility of the election results they announced by declaring Maduro the winner without releasing detailed results. We have serious concerns that these results do not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people and (actual) votes.”‘,
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, ‘In a separate briefing on the same day, Ned Price, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, emphasized that the Venezuelan electoral authorities should tally all votes fairly and transparently, share that information immediately with opposition and independent observers, stating that “this is what the U.S. and the international community are watching for.”‘,
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, ‘Earlier, Venezuelan electoral authorities announced that President Maduro had won a third term in the presidential election held on the 28th. However, they did not disclose real-time vote counts and blocked citizen groups from observing the vote count. In response, the Venezuelan opposition raised concerns about fraudulent election practices, and the international community, including the United States, expressed doubts about the officially announced election results.’,
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