(Trinidad Express) CARICOM does not have to take a position on the Venezuelan election because it is a domestic matter, Caricom chairman Dickon Mitchell said yesterday.
The Grenada Prime Minister was responding to a question at the news conference at the conclusion of the Caricom Heads of Government meeting in St George’s on why no statement had been issued on behalf of Caricom on the disputed outcome of Sunday’s presidential election in Venezuela, and whether that was an indication of division within Caricom over the issue.
Incumbent President Nicolas Maduro claims to have won the election with just over 51% of the popular vote, but this has been challenged by the opposition, with thousands of Venezuelans taking to the streets to protest the results.
“It is not an indication that Caricom is divided on this,” said Mitchell. “Caricom does not have to have a position. Elections in Venezuela are domestic matters. Firstly, Venezuela is not a member of Caricom. Secondly, we expect, and it has already happened, that members will indicate their position.
“Caricom noted the fact that the election had taken place. We are happy with the fact that the people of Venezuela got the opportunity to exercise their democratic right, to engage in an election. And so there is no division within Caricom on the issue because there is really no need for Caricom to have a position.”
Asked why Caricom did not come out with a united statement on the need for a verification process of the votes cast in the election, Mitchell said the question presumed that Caricom knew for a fact that there was no verification process in Venezuela.
“I don’t know that Caricom knows that. What I know for a fact is that elections were held and a declared winner was announced and it is being challenged or disputed… I mean elections are held everywhere, sometimes they are disputed and sometimes they are not. And respectfully, it is not Caricom’s position to come out and say that there ought to be verification of any country’s election,” Mitchell stated.
Asked about the statement from the Guyana government in which it said it supports the call for a transparent process of verification of the will of the Venezuelan people and whether it indicated that Guyana did not believe that the process was fair, Guyana President Irfaan Ali said his government was not going to comment on whether the process was fair.
“The government of Guyana is very clear that there is a process in an election… You have what occurs before the election, what occurs on the election day and what occurs after that. And throughout the process there are laws and a system that governs the process.
“Our statement is factual in nature… that is that every mechanism that is provided for in an electoral system must be adhered to. And there are calls from the international community and from the opposition for one aspect of that process to be activated, and we support that call because it is part of the electoral system.”
Guyana shares a land border with Venezuela, and the Maduro government has laid claim to two-thirds of the land controlled by Guyana.
Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago are the closest to Venezuela in terms of location. While Guyana shares a land border with Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago shares a maritime border with Venezuela. However, the T&T Government has made no statement on the Venezuelan election.
St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves on Monday urged Caricom leaders to formally recognise the re-election of Maduro. Gonsalves had said he was hoping Caricom would issue a statement on the outcome of the election.