Unanimous international condemnation against the Maduro Government

For the United States to criticize or sanction the Government of Venezuela is common.

But the fact that the European Union and the main left-wing governments of South America —Brazil and Colombia— join in almost on the same day is proof that the Administration of Nicolás Maduro has crossed one line, another one.

That is what happened this Tuesday, after Chavismo excluded the candidacy of Corina Yoris, the opposition's plan b for the presidential elections on July 28.

After an exhausting and tense Monday, in which the governor of the State of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, and the moderate Enrique Márquez were only able to register their applications at the stroke of an hour, the authorities have indicated that Yoris could not complete the process due to a computer failure. on the electoral authority page.

Given that the academic had been selected in response to a controversial disqualification of the opposition leader María Corina Machado, and that the simple possibility of competing in the elections has become an obstacle course for the Venezuelan opposition, the international reaction was practically unanimous. , and broke the recent diplomatic improvements that the Government of Nicolás Maduro had achieved.

In Brazil, the Government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed its concern this Tuesday about the veto of Yoris' candidacy.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs states, in a note with very measured language, that “the candidate of the Unitary Platform, a force in the opposition and on whom judicial decisions did not weigh, was prevented from registering, which is not compatible with the agreements of Barbados”, which laid the foundation for the elections.

This criticism – the first by the Brazilian Government of Chavismo due to the electoral process – comes months after President Lula welcomed Maduro in Brasilia, in a first step to break years of diplomatic isolation.

The first statement was the European Union.

In response to a query from the EFE agency, its Foreign Affairs spokesman, Peter Stanos, made the position clear.

“The European Union is deeply concerned and regrets the irregular and opaque process that has prevented some parties from registering their presidential candidates.”

Until now, Brazil has preferred to act behind the scenes to guide an electoral process with democratic guarantees.

Lula himself avoided criticizing Machado's disqualification, going so far as to say that he had to stop complaining and appoint a replacement, which she did.

But now that the replacement has also been banned, Brazil has made public its discontent.

Itamaraty's note adds that the authorities have not given "any official explanation" for the veto of Yoris, appointed by the disqualified María Corina Machado, who overwhelmingly won the opposition primaries.

He also points out that eleven opposition candidates are still in the race and, strikingly, mentions the governor of Zulia, whom he remembers is also from the Unitary Platform.

The note ends with a criticism of the sanctions against Venezuela in a nod to Chavismo.

Something similar has happened with the Government of Gustavo Petro in Colombia.

In a press release, the Bogotá Foreign Ministry “reiterates its absolute respect for the sovereignty and autonomy of the Venezuelan people,” but then “expresses its concern about the recent events that occurred on the occasion of the registration of some presidential candidates, particularly in regarding the difficulties faced by majority sectors of the opposition.”

Like Brasilia, he remembers the importance of the Barbados agreements, which the Petro Government has promoted.

That Administration had been extremely cautious regarding the internal situation in Venezuela, with a caution that bordered on contradiction, since Petro has insistently criticized the disqualifications of officials or candidates in different countries, and did not speak out in the case of Machado.

The turn deserved a prompt response from the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, who reacted on his social networks.

“The Colombian Foreign Ministry takes a false step and commits an act of gross interference in matters that only concern Venezuelans,” he said.

Gil himself reacted in the same way to other demonstrations.

“The European Union, the same one that supported Guaidó's farce, which has disrespected our institutions and violated all the principles of International Law, by following Washington's foreign policy, is sinking again into the mud of interventionism,” he said in front. to the European position.

"The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela repudiates the gray and interfering statement, drafted by officials of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, which appears to have been dictated by the United States Department of State," he responded to Itamaraty.

Similar positions have been adopted by countries such as Peru, Costa Rica or Ecuador.

The Foreign Minister of Uruguay, Omar Paganini, has said that Venezuela is consolidating itself as “a dictatorship” and that the country's electoral process “has been completely distorted.”

Even more notably, Chile's left-wing president, Gabriel Boric, condemned last Thursday the “arbitrary detention of political representatives of the Venezuelan opposition,” in reference to the judicial measures taken against significant members of Machado's party.