Nearly 50 countries reject the victory of Chavism in the Venezuelan elections 

The number of countries rejecting the results of the National Assembly elections held this Sunday in Venezuela is growing as post-election day progresses, and there are now almost 50 countries that do not recognise the triumph of Chavismo.   

In the Americas, the largest bloc that has so far said it "does not know" the result of the vote is made up of 16 nations that signed a declaration denouncing the lack of "legitimacy".  

The document, signed by Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia, also called on the international community to join "in rejecting these fraudulent elections".  

The text became known after the National Electoral Council (NEC) reported that the Venezuelan government's Grand Patriotic Pole (GPP) alliance had won the elections to which some 20.7 million Venezuelans were called to elect 277 deputies from among some 14,400 candidates, and which were marked by a massive abstention. 

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro immediately stated that the result ratified his position, even though the opposition represented by Guaidó, which is recognised by over 50 countries as the oil-producing country's interim president, did not take part in the controversial votes.

Voices of rejection of what happened in Venezuela were raised from different fronts.  

In the United States, the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, asked his allies to continue to recognise Guaidó as interim president after Sunday's "farce".  

"We urge all countries committed to democracy to join us in condemning the farce and supporting the legitimate National Assembly and the interim president in the future," the head of US diplomacy said in a statement.  

According to Pompeo, "this farce is only an attempt to install a complicit National Assembly, a puppet committed only to Maduro, while destroying the only democratic institution left in the country that truly represents the Venezuelan people". 

For its part, the European Union called for "credible, inclusive and transparent" legislative and presidential elections to be held in Venezuela.  

The EU-27 refused to recognise the result of the elections because they were held without "respect for political pluralism" and in a context of "disqualification and persecution of opposition leaders", according to a statement.  

As a result, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, said that the EU will not recognise the new National Assembly when it begins its mandate on 5 January.  

The United Kingdom government expressed the same view through its Foreign Minister, Dominic Raab, who said the vote "was neither free nor fair", and therefore called on "all Venezuelan leaders" to commit themselves to supporting "a solution" for this situation.  

Concern in the neighbourhood  

Colombia, which shares a border with Venezuela and is the Latin American territory that has felt the brunt of the political, social and economic crisis there, as it is home to 1.7 million people from that country, did not recognise the result either.  

The government of Iván Duque, through a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the elections were "fraudulent".  

In the South American giant, Brazil, which also borders Venezuela, Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo called the event an "electoral farce", since it translates into "more oppression and hunger" for Venezuelans and more "force for crime" throughout the region.  

"However, the Venezuelan people rejected the electoral farce. With a very low turnout it showed that the legislative elections do not represent their will," the foreign minister said in his Twiter account.  

Meanwhile, Uruguay expressed its "concern" about the election process, which it believes "was not carried out in accordance with democratic principles and values" and therefore reiterated a call for dialogue between the government and the opposition. 

Although the majority rejected the election result in Venezuela, its old allies were quick to congratulate the winner.  

"On behalf of the Cuban people, the party and government we congratulate the Gran Polo Patriótico, the PSUV and the Bolivarian and Chavista people on the victory achieved in the legislative elections," said Cuba's president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and the leader of the Communist Party (PCC, the only legal party), Raúl Castro.  

The Cuban leaders added that "once again, the homeland of Bolívar and Chávez, under your leadership, is raising its democratic and participative stance in the face of the onslaught of imperialism". 

Cuba is one of Venezuela's main allies, which has provided generous economic assistance to the island over the past two decades, particularly in oil and fuel.  

Russia likewise denied that there were "serious violations" in Sunday's legislative elections and expressed confidence that the new National Assembly would become a platform for dialogue.  

According to María Zajárova, Foreign Affairs spokesperson, the election observers highlighted the "efforts" made by the Venezuelan authorities in organising a vote in line with "the highest standards of transparency, democracy, health and epidemiological safety".  

Indeed, in Russia's view, if the international community were to support the legally elected National Assembly, it would "contribute to the creation of favourable conditions" for the political settlement. EFE  

From the American continent, Mexico, Argentina and Bolivia remain silent and have not yet expressed their views on the results of the elections to the Venezuelan National Assembly.  

The popular consultation organised by the Venezuelan opposition led by Juan Guaidó, in which the rejection of the legislative elections held on Sunday was proposed, began this Monday in a telematic way, among doubts about the security offered by participating in the same through virtual channels without guarantees.  

As soon as it ended on Sunday and began on Monday, the website promoting the consultation set a countdown to what should be the start of voting that will extend until next Saturday, December 12, the only date on which you can participate in person.  

However, the website showed an error that was resolved shortly afterwards. In addition, the two main voting systems were activated, also at midnight: Telegram and an application called Voatz, through which those interested must send their scanned or photographed identity card. 

Guaidó reports an incredible turnout   

Guaidó appeared on Monday to promote the consultation and criticize the results of the legislative elections, in which, pending the end of the recount, the ruling Gran Polo Patriótico coalition obtained 68.43% of the votes.  

The opponent, who will be a deputy and president of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament) until the legislators elected yesterday take office on 5 January, said that there was an "incredible participation" in the consultation.  

"At this time there is an incredible participation through the remote mechanisms that have been set up for the consultation, much more than we expected, by the way," he said.  

On the other hand, he stressed his "absolute confidence" that citizens "will participate" and will "mobilise" with this consultation in rejection of an election that the opposition group he leads has called "fraud".  

For his part, the national coordinator of the popular consultation, Enrique Colmenares Finol, told Efe that the promoters are convinced that "the Venezuelan people are already fully persuaded" to participate.  

"What we are sure of, and we are already seeing it, is (that) there will be a large participation in the consultation. Now that we are going to surpass all those numbers, we are sure of it," Finol said.  

The coordinator of the consultation said that as of Tuesday they will begin to give "official figures of how many people" are participating "virtually".  

"And of course we will be informing them of this every day, but we are going to give the exact and clear figures," he added.  

The first question of the consultation, in which citizens are asked whether they reject the elections in which Chavismo, which has governed since 1999, took control of Parliament, was  

He also asked whether they demanded "an end to the usurpation of the presidency by Nicolás Maduro and called for free, fair and verifiable presidential and parliamentary elections".  

Finally, the third point asks the Venezuelans whether they "order" the necessary steps to be taken with the international community to activate cooperation, accompaniment and assistance to rescue" democracy, "address the humanitarian crisis and protect the people from crimes against humanity".  

Citizens will be able to respond with a "yes" or "no".  

To vote both in Voatz and Telegram, Venezuelans who wish to do so will have to scan or take a photo of their ID card or passport and send it through.  

In the case of Voatz, the system verifies the process "to avoid massive participation through robots" and verifies that only one person participates, just once, according to the explanations of the organizers.  

However, they have not yet detailed what cyber-security measures will be taken to ensure that the personal data disseminated through the application are not protected.  

Nor have they detailed whether Voatz has improved its system since they attempted to hack into it in 2018, as reported by various media at the time, and thus is protected when sending personal data such as a scanned ID. 

In any case, according to the images released by the organizers, it is already possible to vote through these applications and, after entering the data of each citizen, the vote is registered in them.  

Voting will end next Saturday, when some 7,000 voting tables will be set up at "more than 3,000 points of expression of will".  

The organisers hope that on that day, citizens will gather at these polling stations, not only those who are going to cast their votes, but also those who have answered the questions virtually as a "political act" of protest.