Washington. The Carter Center presented on Wednesday to the Organization of American States (OAS) “original minutes” of the elections in Venezuela that “demonstrate” the victory of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia over Nicolás Maduro.
“I just received what was sent by international mail and I would like to share this with you after the session so you can see that these are original minutes from Venezuela that have a very significant QR code,” reported Jennie K. Lincoln, advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean from the Carter Center.
This code “allowed witnesses, electoral observers from miles and miles of voting centers, to compile information systematically from original data produced by the CNE, the National Electoral Council,” he added.
“This is the key point of this election,” Lincoln insisted.
The Carter Center was invited to observe the July 28 elections in which President Nicolás Maduro was proclaimed the winner for a third six-year term amid allegations of fraud.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado and Maduro’s rival at the polls, Edmundo González Urrutia, claim to have evidence that refutes this: the electoral records.
Lincoln agreed with them.
“The data show that Edmundo González won more than 67% of the votes and Nicolás Maduro obtained 31%, but “the responsibility” to proclaim it falls on the electoral authority,” he declared.
During the session of the permanent council, the executive body of the organization, the Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagro, denounced an electoral process that “was neither fair, free nor transparent.”
I reject Maduro, standing
María Corina Machado, who has been living underground in her country since August, urged the international community to increase pressure on President Nicolás Maduro to resign.
“We need the international community and international justice to act and hold Maduro and other Venezuelan officials accountable,” the opponent declared in English, addressing a conference in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic.
He added that the world must continue to recognize Urrutia as the elected president and help cut off “illicit financial resources” to Maduro.
“These come from drug trafficking. They come from illegal mining and gold smuggling and even human trafficking,” he said, noting that “European countries can do a lot to help close these flows immediately.”
