Venezuela | National Electoral Council: UN report ‘full of lies’

(Caracas) Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) said on Wednesday that the report of the United Nations group of experts on the July 28 presidential election was “riddled with lies and contradictions.”

The publication “demonstrates the perverse political intentionality of such a dissemination, composed of fallacious and distorted arguments,” the electoral authority said.

She denounces a “pamphlet document” and “poor and easily refutable arguments used to try to delegitimize the impeccable and transparent electoral process that took place on July 28.”

The CNE ratified the victory of outgoing President Nicolás Maduro, but the opposition claims that its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia won the vote.

At the invitation of the CNE, UN experts traveled to Venezuela to monitor the vote and produce an internal document. Following the growing criticism of the election result, the UN published a preliminary report on Tuesday evening.

The latter believes that the “elementary measures of transparency and integrity” necessary for “credible” elections have not been respected.

Experts point out in particular the absence of publication of results by polling station, as demanded by the opposition and part of the international community.

The CNE reaffirmed on Wednesday that it had been the target of a hack. “Despite the delay in the process of transmitting the results, emergency protocols were applied and the National Electoral Council (CNE) managed to transmit 80% of the results, with an irreversible result in favor of candidate Nicolás Maduro,” it said.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry had already “categorically” rejected the UN report on Tuesday, saying that it “spreads a series of lies, violating in its content and method, not only the principles that govern the functioning of the groups of experts, but also the terms of reference signed with the Venezuelan electoral power.”

The announcement of Mr Maduro’s re-election for a third term sparked spontaneous protests, with an official toll of 25 dead, 192 injured and 2,400 arrests.

The opposition, which has so far only organised one demonstration, on 3 August, has called for large demonstrations on Saturday.

While part of the international community is trying to put pressure on President Maduro, his Mexican counterpart Andrés Manuel López Obrador considered that the solution to the crisis was a “matter” that Venezuelans had to resolve internally.

“This is a matter for Venezuelans and what we want is for there to be a peaceful solution to the differences,” he said Wednesday during his daily press conference.

He stressed that his country’s position was to “act with caution and not be drawn in,” referring to countries and international organizations that question the legitimacy of the process and do not recognize Maduro’s re-election. He reiterated that his government intends to wait for the electoral authorities to publish the complete results of the vote.