Venezuela: CEELA Supports the National Electoral Council’s Work

A group of people queues outside a polling station, Venezuela, Oct. 10, 2021. | Photo: Twitter/ @luchaalmada

10 October 2021

OPINION

People attend a demonstration to express solidarity with the Palestinian people in northwest Pakistan's Peshawar on May 21, 2021.

by John Pilger

teleSUR

The Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America (CEELA) sent an observation mission to supervise Sunday's mock elections. 

On Sunday, Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America (CEELA) President Nicanor Moscoso reiterated that Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) is the only authority in charge of determining and managing the Bolivarian nation's electoral process. 

Venezuela Urges EU Electoral Mission to Avoid Interference

"The only thing we cannot do is to think that we are referees or judges of the electoral process. The people who are judges and who will carry out the elections are the Venezuelans themselves and the authorities. In this case, the CNE is the one in charge of delivering the results", Moscoso said.

Moscoso's declarations come after the statements made by the European Union (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell who assured that the South American nation's Nov. 21 elections would be validated only by the bloc's electoral mission. 

CNE Pedro Calzadilla commented that Venezuelan authorities demanded a formal apology from the EU as its stance violates previous agreements on the EU electoral mission's participation and international law principles such as non-interference. 

On Sunday, Calzadilla noted that the mock elections had exceeded all expectations and constituted an opportunity for voters to familiarize themselves with the voting system. 

"We Venezuelans will elect our 335 mayors, our 23 governors. We will elect our lawmakers to the Legislative Council in 23 states... It is a matter between Venezuelans, and nobody interferes here," Parliament's chairman Jorge Rodriguez stressed.

The CNE installed 446 voting centers in 333 municipalities out of 24 states for the electoral drill, which had support from the Bolivarian Armed Forces (FANB) and international observers from CEELA and the Carter Center.