European Commission Vice-President Josep Borrell said that Nicolás Maduro’s government “is a dictatorial and authoritarian regime”, in statements to the Spanish network Telecinco.
“In Venezuela, more than 2,000 people were detained after the elections, the opposition leader had to flee and political parties are subject to limitations on their actions,” he highlighted.
Borrell added that “Venezuela called elections, but it was not a democracy before and much less after.”
The European representative’s statements come a week after candidate Edmundo González arrived in Spain, where he requested political asylum.
González sought asylum after receiving an arrest warrant in Venezuela over allegations of crimes related to publishing election results on a website. He immediately denied the charges.
On July 28, Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner of the presidential elections. The declaration was ratified weeks later by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ, from the Spanish acronym).
However, to date, detailed results have not been published, a measure that several countries consider necessary for validation and transparency.
Borrell had already commented that González’s arrival in Spain marked a “sad day for democracy”.
“Faced with repression, political persecution and direct threats to his security and freedom, after having received hospitality at the Dutch residence in Caracas until September 5, the political leader and presidential candidate Edmundo González, had to request political asylum and accept the protection that Spain offered,” Borrell said in a statement.
“Edmundo González, according to copies of the minutes available publicly, would be the presidential candidate who won the elections by a large majority. In a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country,” he added.
Election in Venezuela had electronic ballot box and printed vote; understand
This content was originally published in EU diplomacy chief says Venezuela is a “dictatorial and authoritarian regime” on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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