UN willing to mediate if Venezuelan people ask | AlMomento.net

Guyana11th. (EUROPA PRESS) – UN General Assembly President Denis Francis on Saturday assured the United Nations’ willingness to mediate in Venezuela to resolve a dispute over election results questioned by the opposition and much of the international community, which saw President Nicolas Maduro re-elected in a turbulent election.

“I am confident that if we were invited to help and support the authorities and the Venezuelan people in mediating between the parties, the United Nations would be willing, as always,” he declared at a press conference reported by the news agency Bloomberg.

Francis, who has been in Guyana on an official visit for the past four days, noted that Venezuelans “must first decide whether they want the United Nations” to act to mediate and ease tensions between the conflicting parties in the Latin American country.

Call for dialogue

Accordingly, the UN representative called on Venezuelans to resolve their problems “peacefully” through dialogue, rather than risking lives and bloodshed, as reported by the above-mentioned agencies.

The statements came as the NGO Criminal Forum counted 1,303 “verified and confirmed” arrests since July 29, the day after Venezuela’s presidential election.

Contradictory versions

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner with 51.95% of the vote, while his opponent González Urrutia received 43.18%.

After the first results were released on Monday, the opposition quickly emerged to claim victory — they said they had won with more than 70% of the vote — and called for international support for a recount.