The president of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, expressed his concern about the resurgence of authoritarianism and populism in the region
EFE (via 14ymedio), Luque (Paraguay), August 20, 2024 — The lack of transparency in the July 28 elections in Venezuela shows that the democratic system of that country has collapsed, the Secretary for the Strengthening of Democracy of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Mexican Francisco Guerrero, declared on Tuesday.
“In what electoral process in the world do you wait three weeks to know the evidence that guarantees a result? Nowhere else in the world. What this confirms is that the democratic system in Venezuela has collapsed,” he told the EFE Guerrero agency, which is participating in the Paraguayan city of Luque of the XVII Inter-American Meeting of Electoral Authorities (RAE).
According to the official, the Venezuelans decided “on a direction that was opposite” to the results issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which formalized Maduro’s victory for a third six-year term in power, a result questioned by the opposition and by a large part of the international community.
The electoral authority has been characterized as ’being in the hands of the regime’
“In the case of Venezuela, in particular, I think it has been evident, it has been very clear, that people decided on a direction contrary to what the electoral authority says,” Guerrero said. In addition, he considered that the electoral authority “has been characterized as being in the hands of the regime of Nicolás Maduro.”
The Democratic United Platform (PUD), the largest Venezuelan opposition coalition, called the results announced by the CNE fraudulent an