Venezuela’s Maduro Puts Forward Pledge to Respect July 28 Election Result

Mexico City, Mexico, June 11, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said he was ready and willing to sign a pledge before the country’s electoral authorities to recognize the results of the July 28 election regardless of the outcome.

He called on the rest of the presidential field to also sign on.

“I believe in the electoral system, I believe in Venezuelan democracy, I believe in the people, in deep and true democracy. I’m ready,” said Maduro during a television broadcast Monday.

The Venezuelan leader and presidential candidate seeking re-election has lately emphasized peaceful political participation as the solution for political tensions in the Caribbean country. 

“We have been the promoters of dialogue, against the haters, for respect of the National Constitution,” added Maduro before reiterating his call for wide-reaching dialogue with all sectors of Venezuelan society following the presidential vote on July 28.

Venezuelan electoral processes have been previously marred by post-election instability, with the hardline opposition frequently labeling the results as “fraudulent” and with their supporting unleashing violent protests in an effort to overturn the outcome.

Ranking Chavista Diosdado Cabello recently warned that US-backed opposition factions are again planning on rejecting the outcome of this election if the result is not in their favor. 

“The [right-wing opposition] conducts polls to show that an opposition candidate will win the presidential elections. Every time an election comes and we win, they claim fraud, but when they win, the electoral body does work,” Cabello said in a press conference.

“They have their plan of violence prepared, their plan of [violent street protests known as] guarimbas. The thing is that they are predictable, they are repetitive,” declared the Venezuelan president on Monday. 

Venezuela was witness to some of the worst violence following the 2013 presidential election where Maduro narrowly defeated Henrique Capriles. The hardline opposition opted to boycott the 2018 vote, instead pursuing a regime-change strategy that saw them collude with Washington to recognize little-known lawmaker Juan Guaidó as “interim president.” 

Maduro’s rival Edmundo González, widely understood to be a stand-in candidate for far-right opposition leader María Corina Machado, said on Tuesday that he would not sign any pledge, claiming that the government has violated past agreements.

In a recent interview, the opposition presidential candidate expressed his confidence that he would triumph in the election. 

“We believe that it will be of such magnitude that the Government will have to think about that reality and open itself to a negotiation aimed at handing over power in a natural, simple way,” González told 2001 Online.

The 74-year-old former diplomat was a surprise last-minute consensus choice for an opposition that has been marred by infighting in recent years. Machado had won a controversial primary contest in October 2023 and vowed to continue “until the end.” However, she saw her political disqualification upheld by the Venezuelan Supreme Court in January and ultimately endorsed González.

Machado has mostly carried out political rallies on her own, often with a poster of the opposition’s candidate, while González has stuck to interviews and small-scale gatherings.

Opinion polling has been historically unreliable in Venezuela, with some firms showing widespread support for González, while others showing majority support for Maduro. 

During an address to the Inter-American Affairs Commission of the Senate of Spain, Machado recently invited senators from the Iberian country to visit Venezuela to witness the election. The invite comes following a decision by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) to withdraw its invitation for the European Union (EU) to send an observation mission to the upcoming presidential elections.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.