Santo Domingo.- As “condemnable and reprehensible” he described This Sunday the Organization of American States (OAS) exile to Spain of the Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
“One month and ten days before the presidential elections in Venezuela, the regime has not only failed to present the slightest evidence of electoral results, but has forced the exile of candidate Edmundo González – who, considering what has happened since the date of the election, undoubtedly won – based on unfounded summons by the Prosecutor’s Office and threats of imprisonment,” the statement said. official statement from the OAS.
The organization explains that “it was absurd to have expected free, fair and transparent elections from the National Electoral Council (CNE), just as it is absurd to expect justice from the various actors in the Venezuelan judicial system.”
According to the OAS, Edmundo González acted correctly on this occasion, since the Bolivarian nation “does not need one more political prisoner, one more tortured person, or one more victim of systematic human rights violations.”
They say that the prisons of the Venezuelan regime reflect the sad human nature of the chain of command of dictatorial repression.
“In this electoral process that has not yet concluded, we must continue working so that the true winner of the elections of July 28 assumes the Presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in January of next year. The objectives that we pursue in defense of democracy and human rights must be maintained, and our efforts must intensify as circumstances worsen.”
He is already exiled in Spain
The plane of the Spanish Air Forces that transferred the Venezuelan opposition to Spain Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia landed at Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base (Madrid) at around 4:00 p.m. (14:00 GMT).
According to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, González, who is traveling accompanied by his wife and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs, Diego Martínez Belío, was received by the Secretary of State for Ibero-America and Spanish in the World, Susana Sumelzo.
“From now on, the process for requesting asylum will begin, the resolution of which will be favourable in the interest of Spain’s commitment to the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans, especially political leaders,” the department said.
González Urrutia was the candidate of the largest anti-Chavez political group in the presidential elections last July, which according to the official result endorsed by the Supreme Court were won by President Nicolás Maduro.
The former diplomat made his last public appearance on July 29, the day after voting day, during one of the citizen protests that followed the official announcement of the results that gave Maduro the victory without showing the minutes.
The Venezuelan elections, in which the president was seeking a third term, have been strongly criticized by the international community for their lack of transparency and the impossibility of verifying the results. Several countries, including the United States, have recognized Gonzalez as the legitimate winner.
Saab, a close collaborator of Maduro and former pro-government legislator, accuses González of usurping the powers of the electoral body and publishing “allegedly forged or falsified documents,” as well as crimes of “instigating disobedience of laws, computer crimes, criminal association and conspiracy,” thereby causing “anxiety.”
In a letter delivered to the Attorney General on September 4 by his defense, González stated that it was not his “responsibility to digitize, safeguard and publish the copies of the voting records that our witnesses received at the voting tables,” as provided for by law.
His lawyer, José Vicente Haro, also indicated that González was willing to testify, but did not appear at the summons due to “the degree of defenselessness in which he finds himself, where he has been prequalified for a crime, where acts that do not have a criminal character are being attributed to him as if they were crimes.”
Despite opposition insistence and international pressure, Venezuelan authorities have not published the electoral records with the results more than a month after the vote.
Since democracy was established in Venezuela in 1958, the voting records are considered proof of the election results. In previous elections, the National Electoral Council (CNE) has publicly published on its website the complete content of each record, by voting center and tables set up.
In response to the criticism, Maduro asked the Supreme Court of Justice to conduct an expert analysis of the electoral process. This judicial body, made up of magistrates who were part of the government, certified Maduro’s victory on August 22 and stated in its resolution that the vote counts published by the opposition were false. The Carter Center of the United States questioned the independence of this analysis, one day after questioning the integrity of the elections.
