The governments of the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, and Ecuador stated this Sunday that “the will of the Venezuelan people…must be respected,” in a joint statement issued during the presidential elections in Venezuela.
“In light of Nicolás Maduro’s statements about the possibility of a ‘bloodbath’ if the ruling party loses the elections, we repeat our call to the Venezuelan authorities to comply with the Inter-American Democratic Charter,” said a statement from the Alliance for Development in Democracy (ADD) formed by the four countries.
The ADD members added in the statement, released by the Panamanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that in the elections “the will of the Venezuelan people, the foundation of democracy, must be respected.” The four nations also called for “free, fair, and transparent” elections.
The ADD rejected the actions of the Venezuelan government that “limit the access of international observers” to verify the electoral process, particularly the prohibition of entry to several former Latin American presidents last Friday. On that day, Venezuelan authorities prevented four former presidents who intended to travel together from Panama to Caracas from doing so.
A flight by the Panamanian airline Copa Airlines, which was transporting the four former presidents to Venezuela, could not take off from Tocumen airport “due to the blocking of Venezuelan airspace,” said Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on his X account.
The group included former presidents Miguel Ángel Rodríguez (Costa Rica), Jorge Quiroga (Bolivia), Vicente Fox (Mexico), and Mireya Moscoso (Panama), who are members of the Initiative for Democratic Spain and the Americas, a forum of right-wing former leaders.
This Sunday, the ADD called on Venezuelans “to vote en masse.” “The result of the Venezuelan election, for its legitimacy, must be the transparent reflection of the popular will freely expressed at the polls,” stated the four nations.
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