Panama Demands a Review of the Electoral Results in Venezuela – 8 Other Countries Agree

The governments of Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay expressed their “deep concern” over the development of the presidential elections of July 28, 2024 in Venezuela.  Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) announced yesterday, Sunday, that Nicolás Maduro was re-elected as president of the South American nation with 51.2% of the votes. Meanwhile, the candidate of the majority opposition, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained 44.2% of the votes.  In response to this, the governments stated that they demand “a complete review of the results” with the presence of independent electoral observers to ensure respect for the will of the Venezuelan people who participated massively and peacefully in the presidential elections.

Opposition Leader Maria Corina Machado Speaks with Police Officer During the Election 

“The vote count must be transparent and the results must not raise any doubts,” they assured in a statement shared on Monday, July 29 by the foreign ministries of these countries. “Our governments will request an urgent meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) to issue a resolution that safeguards the popular will, within the framework of the Democratic Charter and the fundamental principles of democracy in our region,” the report added.  On Monday, Panama joined the rejection declared by several countries in the region regarding the announced result of the presidential election in Venezuela.  “We hoped that the popular will would be respected, but this situation was ignored,” said Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino  in a message posted on the social network X. Mulino also announced that individual and collective actions would be taken “in favor of Venezuelan democracy.”