Despite having invited them as an electoral observer, Maduro lashes out at the Carter Center for reporting fraud

This Wednesday, dictator Nicolas Maduro lashed out against the Carter Center which reported fraud in the Venezuelan presidential elections, even though it was his regime that officially invited the organization to observe the electoral process.

Maduro affirmed that those who manage the Carter Center work for the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and affirmed that the report presented on the elections was already written before the observers' arrival.

"They work for the State Department and USAID (...), all those who came to Venezuela brought the report already written, we have had it for a month, what was missing was spice," declared Maduro.

The dictator insinuated that the Carter Center had drastically changed since former President Jimmy Carter was in charge and that it is very different now, after his death. Despite his current criticisms, both he and the regime-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) received Carter Center observers without prior objection.

In fact, the president of the CNE, Elvis Amoroso, invited The Carter Center to be international observers for the July 28 elections. Amoroso also extended invitations to Celac, Caricom, United Nations experts and the European Union, although the latter had their invitations subsequently withdrawn.

Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López also received the Carter Center representatives last July 22, and even praised their international prestige. "For us it is very gratifying that you are present here in Venezuela before the elections of next July 28, to open the doors for you under the guidelines of the CNE,"  Padrino López expressed on that occasion.

Carter Center Report

The Carter Center affirmed last Tuesday that the presidential election in Venezuela "cannot be considered democratic" due to the lack of compliance with "international parameters and standards of electoral integrity." The organization, which deployed 17 experts in four cities a month before the vote, could not verify the authenticity of the results announced by the CNE, which declared Maduro's victory.

In its statement, the Carter Center acknowledged the civic participation of the Venezuelan people, describing it as "massive, peaceful and civic," but criticized CNE's lack of transparency in disseminating the results.