The socialist governments of Brazil and Colombia joined the broader Hispano-American community and voiced their concern about the ongoing obstacles imposed by the Maduro regime on the registration process for presidential candidates in Venezuela. Specifically, they highlighted María Corina Machado's inability to register her representative in the electoral process scheduled for July 28.
The countries' statement comes after the Venezuelan opposition repeatedly blocked Corina Yoris, María Corina Machado's representative, from registering her candidacy for the upcoming presidential election.
"Colombia expresses its concern over the recent events surrounding the registration of certain presidential candidacies, particularly with regard to the difficulties faced by majority opposition sectors - such as the Plataforma Unitaria Democrática and the Movimiento Vente Venezuela, among others. These difficulties have the potential to undermine confidence in the transparency and competitiveness of the electoral process leading up to the presidential elections on July 28 within certain sectors of the international community," the Colombian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Gustavo Petro's government, which has close ties to Nicolás Maduro, stated that "Ensuring political and electoral guarantees for all political actors equally is fundamental for democracy. For this reason, Colombia echoes the calls of the international community on the need to prioritize the current presidential electoral process in Venezuela as a democratic mechanism for making decisions that will profoundly impact the lives of the people of Venezuela in the years to come."
"An act of gross interference"
The Venezuelan regime's Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, was quick to respond. Gil assured that Petro's government issued the statement due to pressure from the United States.
"Driven by the need to please the designs of the U.S. State Department, the Colombian Foreign Ministry is taking a false step and commits an act of gross interference in matters that only concern Venezuelans," said Gil.
This is not only an act of bad faith, but it also seeks to undermine the process of normalization of diplomatic, political and commercial relations, which has been promoted by our presidents.
Empujada por la necesidad de complacer los designios del Departamento de Estado de los EEUU, la Cancillería colombiana da un paso en falso y comete un acto de grosera injerencia en asuntos que solo le competen a los venezolanos.
Venezuela ha sido siempre respetuosa de los… https://t.co/D1lU1uRwf6
— Yvan Gil (@yvangil) March 26, 2024
Meanwhile, socialist Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil's government, which also has close ties to Maduro, explained that "it is observed that the candidate nominated by the Unitary Platform, an opposition political force, over which there were no judicial decisions, was prevented from registering, which is not compatible with the Barbados Agreements. The impediment has not, to date, been the subject of any official explanation."
Brazil is ready, together with other members of the international community, to cooperate so that the election announced for July 28 constitutes a firm step towards normalizing political life and strengthening democracy in Venezuela, a neighboring country and friend of Brazil.
