An anonymous US government official urged President Nicolás Maduro on July 26 to reconsider the decision not to allow the entry of former presidents from the region, who came as observers for the July 28 elections.
The United States (US) urged Nicolás Maduro on Friday, July 26, to allow entry into the country to a group of former presidents who were going to participate as electoral observers in the elections next Sunday and whose plane was unable to take off from Panama.
“We encourage Venezuelan authorities to reconsider their decision and allow for more international presence to observe the election, especially with these illustrious former presidents from the region,” said a senior U.S. official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The president of Panama, Jose Raul Mulino, The agency reported on Friday that a Copa Airlines flight to Caracas carrying several former presidents to participate as electoral observers in the elections was prevented from taking off from the Central American country, the agency reported. EFE.
On board the flight were former Mexican President Vicente Fox, former Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso, former Costa Rican President Miguel Ángel Rodríguez and former Colombian Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez.
Mulino said it was “deeply worrying that Maduro’s government authorities have taken steps to increasingly restrict the participation of international observers” in the elections.
“Efforts to prevent illustrious presidents from across the region from observing the electoral process are deeply unfortunate. Their presence would provide the international community and the Venezuelan people with assurances that the elections are representative of the will of Venezuelan voters,” the official added.
Caracas’ decision to prevent the flight from Panama comes after the Freedom and Democracy Group, which includes the politicians, said in a statement on Wednesday that any attempt at fraud in Venezuela’s presidential elections must be sanctioned by the international community.
The Freedom and Democracy Group also includes Dominican President Luis Abinader; former Spanish Prime Ministers José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy, as well as former Presidents Mireya Moscoso of Panama, Mario Abdo Benítez of Paraguay, Jeanine Áñez and Jorge Quiroga of Bolivia; Felipe Calderón and Vicente Fox of Mexico, and Iván Duque and Andrés Pastrana of Colombia.
Former presidents Osvaldo Hurtado, Jamil Mahuad and Guillermo Lasso of Ecuador; Rafael Calderón and Miguel Ángel Rodríguez of Costa Rica; and Mauricio Macri of Argentina; as well as Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó and former governor of Puerto Rico Luis Fortuño, are also part of this initiative.
Venezuela is holding presidential elections this Sunday, July 28, considered decisive, with an opposition more united than ever and the international community watching closely.
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