Venezuela under international pressure

With very few exceptions, the entire Latin America, Caribbean and North America have now rejected the results of Venezuela’s elections held on 28 July. This was crystalized during last week when the Organisation of American States (OAS) adopted a resolution calling on the Venezuelan government to “expeditiously publish the presidential election records, including the voting results at the level of each polling station” and “respect the fundamental principle of popular sovereignty through an impartial verification of the results that ensures the transparency, credibility and legitimacy of the electoral process.” The election records are contained in the electronic reports generated by the voting machines that are in use in Venezuela. The “impartial verification” of those electronic records are also sought by the resolution. President Lula of Brazil and Petro of Colombia have already gone further and called for new elections in Venezuela and these calls have been supported by the United States. President Maduro has rejected the demand.