[News] Venezuela’s Maduro Requests Supreme Court Review of Electoral Results

[Anti-Imperialist News]

venezuelanalysis.com
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuelas-maduro-requests-supreme-court-review-of-electoral-results/?_gl=1*1s42pw4*_ga*MTEwMTg5MjgwNy4xNzExNjM4NzY4*_ga_P1BPT47MF4*MTcyMjUyNTg2Ni4xNC4wLjE3MjI1MjU4NjYuMC4wLjA.>
Venezuela’s Maduro Requests Supreme Court Review of Electoral Results José
Luis Granados Ceja
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/guest-author/jose-luis-granados-ceja/> July
31, 2024

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro submits his petition for a review of
the July 28 vote to the Supreme Court. (Prensa Presidencial)

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
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/breaking-venezuela-maduro-wins-presidential-elections/>
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
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-govt-hardline-opposition-call-for-mobilizations-in-tense-election-aftermath/>
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
<https://venezuelanalysis.com/news/venezuela-electoral-authority-formally-declares-maduro-victory/>
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
<https://x.com/MonederoJC/status/1818488714026246173> 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
<https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/national-lawyers-guild-electoral-observers-praise-fairness-transparency-of-venezuelan-election-process-condemn-the-u-s-backed-oppositions-refusal-to-accept-the-outcome-of-democratic-election>
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
<https://x.com/petrogustavo/status/1818636682704392473> 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 <https://x.com/POTUS/status/1818411670370398655>
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
<https://x.com/JulianMaciasT/status/1817985827026387175> 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
<https://x.com/lubrio/status/1818741768424395178> 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
<https://x.com/JuanitaGoe/status/1818690184017228261> 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.*
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