Hard statement of the European Union against Maduro: "Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia seems to be the winner of the presidential elections by a significant majority"

The international community continues to pressure Venezuela's dictator, Nicolás Maduro, to recognize the results of the presidential elections. On this occasion, it was the European Union (EU) that issued a statement pressuring the Venezuelan regime. The missive, signed by Josep Borrell, vice-president of the European Commission, assures that Edmundo González "appears" to be the winner of the elections "by a significant majority."

Maduro, who insists that he won the elections held last July 28 without even showing the minutes to validate his claim, recently asked the local Supreme Court of Justice to certify his version of the story.

The president of the highest court of the country, Caryslia Beatriz Rodríguez, assured that she will initiate a phase of "expertise" with the evidence collected during an appeal requested by Maduro himself, in order to "certify" the "official" results. At the same time, it declared Gonzalez Urrutia in contempt of court, who did not appear after the call of the pro-Chavez court for considering the results disclosed by the National Electoral Council (CNE) as fraudulent.

As for the statement released by the EU, it makes a sort of summary of what happened in Venezuela after the elections.

"Edmundo González Urrutia appears to be the winner of the presidential elections by a significant majority"

Borrell begins by highlighting the Carter Center's conclusion on the elections: "Venezuela's 2024 presidential election did not meet international parameters and standards of electoral integrity.” With that premise, he questioned Maduro and even explained why the minutes published by the opposition should be considered valid.

"Thanks to the presence of almost 90,000 opposition table witnesses in the voting centers and to the courage and democratic spirit of Venezuelans, they have managed to scan and register more than 80% of the certified electoral minutes issued by the voting machines, digitized them and published them. The system is simple: when the voting closes, the table members, witnesses and operators sign on the screen the tally sheet, which includes the number of votes received by each candidate, broken down by political party. The voting machine prints the tally sheet and sends the results to the CNE through dedicated and encrypted lines. Finally, witnesses from different parties receive paper copies of the official tally sheets, which are the ones that the opposition has managed to gather and publish", they explained.

As for the election results, Borrell assured that "Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia seems to be the winner of the presidential elections by a significant majority", which opens the door for another discussion: how to enforce that result?".

According to the vice president of the European Commission, the solution "lies in dialogue, transparency and respect for the sovereignty and will of the Venezuelan people".

"It is necessary to prevent the political fracture from degenerating into confrontations in the streets. For this, political dialogue between the Venezuelan parties is indispensable. And the international community must support it. But not just any dialogue. If there is a false solution to this crisis, a solution that does not reflect the will of the people expressed in the ballot box, if a democratic transition is not initiated, the Venezuelan people who have already suffered so much will pay for it. The Venezuelan economy will pay for it," he continued.

Finally, Borrell called on the Maduro regime to put an end to "arbitrary detentions and repression against members of the opposition and civil society", also calling for "all political prisoners to be released."