Venezuela’s Maduro Requests Supreme Court Review of Electoral Results
Mexico City, Mexico, July 31, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro petitioned the country’s highest court to conduct a judicial review of the results of the July 28 presidential election that saw him secure a new 6-year term.
Maduro delivered a writ of amparo to the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on Wednesday after the opposition’s refusal to recognize the results of the vote led to widespread unrest in the country.
The country’s electoral authority announced Maduro had won the election just after midnight on Monday with 51.2 percent of the vote against González’s 44.2 percent. Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) formally declared Nicolás Maduro the winner the following day.
“We are ready to present 100 percent of the electoral tallies that we have in our possession,” said Maduro upon leaving the TSJ headquarters in Caracas.
Venezuela’s hardline opposition maintains that its candidate Edmundo González won Sunday’s election and claims to have electoral tallies that prove it. Maduro said he was willing to testify and submit his coalition’s tallies and challenged the other presidential candidates to do the same.
Spanish political analyst Juan Carlos Monedero, who was in Venezuela for the vote, has strongly disputed the opposition’s claims and has insisted that the CNE be given time to process the results.
The CNE has not yet released a detailed breakdown of the vote. Officials from the electoral authority attribute the delay to “cyber attack” that they say affected the transmission of data.
A number of analysts and political forces have urged the CNE to publish the full results in order to ease the tensions surrounding the results.
International election observers including the National Lawyers Guild, present in the country to accompany the vote, praised the “fairness, transparency of Venezuelan election process.”
“The delegation observed a transparent, fair voting process with scrupulous attention to legitimacy, access to the polls, and pluralism,” read a statement by the group.
The delegation went on to criticize the US-backed opposition over their refusal to accept the results, which they charged undermined the stability of Venezuela’s democracy. The Carter Center, which was also present for Sunday’s vote, said in a statement that the election “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity.”
Sunday’s elections took place largely without incident. However, the delayed final results have spurred calls for greater transparency, including from some of Venezuela’s neighbors.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, seen as an ally of Maduro, called for an “professional international audit” of the results. Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva held a phone call with US President Joe Biden who subsequently said the pair agreed “on the need for an immediate release of full, transparent, and detailed voting data at the polling station level by the Venezuelan electoral authorities.”
Other regional leaders, however, have called for respect for Venezuela’s institutions. Mexico’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador took issue in particular with the effort by the Organization of American States (OAS), to intervene on the matter, questioning its credibility and impartiality.
“Why does the OAS have to meddle? That is interference,” said the Mexican president during his press conference on Tuesday, adding that he believed there was no evidence of fraud.
Maduro’s petition to the Supreme Court was presented as an effort to dissipate doubts over the electoral contest.
“I have gone to the highest court so that the Electoral Chamber proceeds with the resolution of the electoral contest on Sunday, July 28, so that it elucidates the events of this date and what followed, and establishes with absolute clarity the definitive results that had me as the winner,” Maduro said in a press conference. He emphasized trust in Venezuela’s institutions to “secure peace” in the country.
Venezuela has been subject to an intense media campaign to discredit Sunday’s election results, with social media being inundated with disinformation. Maduro outright accused Western outlets of seeking to foment a “civil war” in Venezuela and upped his rhetoric against his opponents.
“If US imperialism and fascist criminals force us, I will not hesitate to call the people to a new revolution with other characteristics,” declared Maduro during a Wednesday press conference.
In his address, Maduro expressed concern over the violent protests over recent days, reminiscent of the “guarimba” violent protests that shook the nation in 2014 and 2017. The president showed reported evidence of attacks on schools, hospitals, public buildings and infrastructure.
On Wednesday, Venezuela appeared to return to normal after protests and violent clashes with security forces that Human Rights Watch said included “20 credible reports” of protest-related deaths. Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López reported the death of one National Guard sergeant and 48 wounded officers.
Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.