Canada 'concerned' about Venezuelan elections

Photo: Fernando Vergara Associated Press Despite polls predicting victory for candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, the National Electoral Council announced the re-election of incumbent President Nicolás Maduro.

In the wake of Venezuela’s highly contested presidential election, Canada is urging the country’s authorities to release detailed results, joining its voice to that of the international community.

“Canada, like many other allies and global democracies, has serious concerns about the elections in Venezuela,” Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press briefing in Toronto on Monday.

She added that Canada “supports the democratic opposition” in Venezuela and condemns the “increasingly harsh” authoritarian regime that has been in place in recent years.

Many nations have denounced the fact that the announced result does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people, who have been suffering from a major economic and humanitarian crisis for more than a decade.

I want Venezuela’s democrats to know that Canada stands with them

— Chrystia Freeland

Despite polls predicting victory for candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, the National Electoral Council announced Sunday evening the re-election of incumbent President Nicolás Maduro, heir to Hugo Chávez. This is his third term as head of the country.

Polls had Maduro at a maximum of 30%, and the opposition, which also claimed victory Sunday night, at between 50% and 70%.

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“I want Venezuela's democrats to know that Canada stands with them, and recognizes that they are fighting hard for democracy and freedom and that they deserve it just as much as the rest of us,” the deputy prime minister said.

Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre also denounced the outcome of Monday's vote. “Yesterday, the people of Venezuela voted to free their country from socialist oppression. Yet Venezuelan communist dictator Nicolás Maduro has refused to accept the will of the people and has fabricated a false result that will keep his tyrannical regime in power,” he said in a statement.

Lack of transparency

In a joint statement released Monday, nine Latin American countries called for a “comprehensive review with independent election observers” and a meeting of members of the Organization of American States.

Venezuelan authorities delayed the release of results from each of the country’s 30,000 polling stations on Sunday, hampering efforts to verify the results.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly also condemned the election, calling on Venezuelan authorities “to respect the will of the people and ensure the transparency of the elections by publishing detailed results from all polling stations.”

“The Venezuelan people demonstrated their commitment to restoring democracy in their country by voting peacefully and in large numbers,” she wrote on his page X.

The White House also said Monday that it wants Venezuelan officials to release a full and detailed vote count.

With Agence France-Presse

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