Venezuela Asks Colombia to Be an Observer in the Elections

Venezuela wants Colombia to be an observer country in the presidential elections, which are to be held on July 28. The offer was made last Monday, April 8, one day before the meeting that presidents Gustavo Petro and Nicolas Maduro held in Caracas.

In these elections, Maduro aspires to achieve a third term and faces claims from some sectors of the opposition, who have denounced certain disqualifications and obstacles to participating democratically and freely in the electoral contest.

The offer comes after Petro used the expression “anti-democratic coup” to describe the disqualification of opposition candidate Maria Corina Machado, who will not be able to run for the presidency despite having obtained 90% of the votes in the internal elections to choose a candidate among the main opposition candidates.

Colombia has not confirmed

So far, and despite the meeting of the two heads of state yesterday, Colombia has not confirmed whether it accepts the invitation or not. On the other hand, the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Gilberto Murillo, said that the country sees with “very good eyes that there will be electoral supervision and observation of the CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) and of very important personalities.”

Likewise, the head of Colombian diplomacy insisted that his country “has always offered its good offices to Venezuela and the international community” to seek solutions “built by Venezuelans”.

According to official information, Venezuela has requested the participation in its presidential elections of international institutions such as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), the European Union, the Carter Center and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

“We talked about the invitation we have made to CELAC for electoral observation, which we have also promised to the Colombian government,” the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yvan Gil, told the press after the meeting on Monday, April 8, with his Colombian counterpart in the border city of Cucuta. “We hope that very soon these international observers, who will be welcome in Venezuela, can be selected,” he added.