By Luis De Jesus
Jun 21, 2024, 10:37 PM EDT
The Carter Center of the United States announced this Friday the sending of an observation mission for the presidential elections in Venezuela, where President Nicolás Maduro seeks to continue in power and will face Edmundo González Urrutia, the main opposition candidate.
The organization reported in a statement that the National Electoral Council of Venezuela invited them to participate as part of the agreement signed in October 2023 between the Venezuelan regime and the Unitary Platform in Barbados.
The mission will be led by Jennie Lincoln, senior advisor at the Carter Center for Latin America and the Caribbean, and will arrive in Venezuela on June 29. Other electoral experts will join in July to observe the elections.
Founded by former US Democratic President Jimmy Carter (1977-81), the Carter Center will carry out its mission following the Code of Conduct for International Election Observers, adopted by the United Nations in 2005, notes Efe.
In May, the UN reported that it was considering sending election observers following an invitation from the socialist government in March.
The Carter Center indicated that, due to the limited size and scope of its mission, it will not conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the voting, counting and tabulation processes.
“The mission’s assessments will be based on the national legal framework, as well as regional and international human rights obligations and standards for democratic elections,” said the organization, which has already observed several elections in Venezuela, including a mission of experts for the 2021 regional and municipal elections.
The announcement of the sending of an observation mission from the Carter Center of the United States occurs one day after several candidates for the presidential election in Venezuela signed an agreement from the National Electoral Council in which they commit to recognizing the results of July 28.
This agreement, however, was not signed by Edmundo González Urrutia or Enrique Márquez, they recalled that this is already established in the Barbados pact, which has been violated by the Maduro government.
Several points raised by the entity have also been questioned, such as the rejection of the sanctions established by the United States and the recognition that the CNE has complied with the democratic guarantees for this process, despite the irregularities and obstacles imposed to prevent a broad participation of the opposition and block the possibility of a competitive presidential election.
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