In defense of electoral transparency
On the other hand, Fernández de Kirchner joined the call made by the governments of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia, through their foreign ministries, to make transparent the minutes of last week’s election in Venezuela, which according to President Nicolás Maduro, gave him the victory.
“For the sake of Chávez’s legacy, the minutes should be published,” the former Argentine president asked during her visit to Mexico City and her speech at the Morena forum.
In this context, the left-wing politician referred to the situation in Venezuela, a country that held presidential elections last week, and whose results, according to the National Electoral Council of that country, claimed that Maduro won, but no documentation has been presented to prove it.
In contrast, the opposition, led by candidate Edmundo González and leader María Corina Machado, claimed that 70% of the votes gave them victory and disseminated them in electronic media.
Regarding this controversy, Fernández de Kirchner asked: “for the sake of Hugo Chávez’s legacy, all the minutes should be published.” And she welcomed the fact that opposition leader Machado no longer acts without showing her face publicly, because “clandestinity is something very ugly and bad.”
“Yesterday I was very worried that the main leader was in hiding, but today I saw her leading a march in Caracas so fortunately she has been in hiding for a short time.”
But he asked to look beyond the sympathies or dislikes towards the parties in conflict. “We have to address the issue of Venezuela. The first characterization has to go beyond sympathies or antipathies. Let us always remember that when we are talking about Venezuela we are talking about the largest reserve of conventional oil in the world.”
“The second is this idea that one is the devil and the others are angels. In Venezuela there are neither devils nor angels. The process that began in 1999 started with a coup d’état in 2012, when Chavez was taken prisoner and Carmona, recognized by the United States, took power for two days,” he warned.
He also acknowledged Mexico and its role of non-intervention and respect: “We have always respected something in South America and that is that we are not all the same. We respect cultural identities and in that sense I must acknowledge a guiding principle that supports the region of Mexico that has to do with non-interference by other countries, which is to recognize political and cultural sovereignty.”
In his speech he questioned the role of the Organization of American States (OAS) because in the conflict between Argentina and England over the Malvinas Islands it did not act in support of his country but, with the United States, it leaned towards supporting the English.
“In the Malvinas conflict, the United States ended up playing with its NATO ally: the United Kingdom, where the OAS and the TIAR treaty, which was the reciprocal assistance treaty that obliged all countries of the United States to assist in the aid of any nation in the American territory, died,” he criticized.
The Argentine politician has scheduled meetings, among others, with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the coming days since he will remain in Mexico until Friday, August 9.
