Electoral officials monitoring elections in Venezuela

BELMOPAN (CMC):

The Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) says it has accepted an invitation from Venezuela to participate in a six-day International Electoral Oversight Plan for the National Electoral Council which begins on today.

In a brief statement, the EBC said that the invitation to the event came from the president of the National Electoral Council of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

“The delegation which consists of three members of the Election & Boundaries Commission will participate in the oversight plan. Members will also observe the Regional and Municipal Elections which are scheduled to be held on November 21 in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” the statement said.

It said that the EBC “expresses its appreciation to the president of the National Electoral Council of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for the warm invitation to participate in their electoral process”.

In September, Venezuelan opposition parties confirmed that they would participate in the regional and municipal elections scheduled for November, reversing their previous boycotts in recent years.

Their announcement came ahead of talks between the opposition and the government of President Nicolás Maduro in Mexico City to continue negotiations on finding a common path out of Venezuela’s political stand-off.

The agenda that representatives of Maduro and the opposition agreed for the negotiations contemplates election observers, a renunciation of violence, reparations for victims of violence, social and economic measures and the lifting of international sanctions, which have been imposed on the state oil company, government leaders and others.

The opposition parties grouped in the so-called ‘Unitary Platform’ and led by Juan Guaidó boycotted previous elections, including the re-election of Maduro as president in May 2018, arguing that Venezuela lacks the conditions for free and just contests.

The group decided to participate in the upcoming elections after a “difficult internal deliberation”, motivated by the serious challenges facing the country and the “urgency to find permanent solutions”, according to a statement.

Venezuela has been plunged into political, social and economic crises, due mainly to low oil prices and the embargo against the South American country by the United States in a bid to force Maduro out of office.