New York.- Dominican President Luis Abinader reiterated this Monday to Venezuela’s electoral body that it must deliver the minutes of the presidential elections held on July 28, “as requested by all countries that support democracy.”
Abinader, who is in New York for the UN General Assembly, held the press conference in this city that he usually holds every Monday in Santo Domingo.
During his speech, the president insisted that his government supports the strengthening of democratic values and that the region has demanded free and fair elections in Venezuela.
In the July elections, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council (CNE) over opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, a decision that is questioned by the Dominican Republic, the United States, Spain and several other countries.
“What the Venezuelan electoral body must do is deliver the (election) records as requested by all countries that support democracy,” Abinader told Dominican and Latin media in New York.
The president did not want to speak further on the subject, recommending that journalists wait for his “Wednesday speech” before the United Nations General Assembly. The Dominican head of state has been involved in exchanges of accusations with Maduro and the Venezuelan Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, due to the elections and the confiscation by the United States of a Venezuelan government plane that was being repaired in the Dominican Republic. Maduro went so far as to call Abinader a “thief” and Cabello reminded him that “we are the ones who have oil.”
To the latter, the Dominican responded that his country has a more prosperous economy than Venezuela’s.
Security in Haiti
Abinader, on the other hand, revealed that he held an “exchange of information” on Monday with the president of Kenya, William Ruto, regarding the security of the Kenyan police officers deployed in Haiti and who lead the Multinational Security Support Mission (MMSS) that fights the powerful Haitian armed gangs.
“We have exchanged important information for them and for us. Kenya wanted to know information about its people there (the police) and we wanted to know about the security of our country,” said Abinader, since Haiti borders the Dominican Republic.
Ruto arrived in Port-au-Prince last Saturday, where he announced that his country will send 600 more police officers to join the 400 already in the Caribbean nation. Abinader also announced that his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, extended a formal invitation to him to participate as a speaker at the Leaders’ Summit of the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats.
This event will be held on Tuesday within the framework of the High-Level Week of the United Nations General Assembly. In a letter addressed to Abinader, President Biden highlighted the “fundamental role that the Dominican Republic has played” in the global fight against trafficking in illicit synthetic drugs, highlighting the efforts made to combat the trafficking of fentanyl and other highly dangerous substances.
Abinader also highlighted that Biden praised the “important contributions of the Dominican Republic and close collaboration in global initiatives” to prevent illicit drug manufacturing and save lives through public health interventions.
