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Edmundo González Urrutia, the presidential candidate of Venezuela’s main opposition coalition, thanked United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Saturday for his “interest” in sending a team of electoral experts to the Caribbean country for the July 28 election.
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«The international community is present. (…) The whole world is watching us and accompanies us. ”The standard-bearer of the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD) said he has 59.1% of the vote, compared to 24.6% for the presidential and re-election candidate Nicolás Maduro, according to a study by the Andrés Bello Catholic University (CEPyG-UCAB) and the polling agency Delphos.
The international community will arrive in the country next Sunday (July 28) to participate in this process. We have received a team of UN electoral experts. We thank you for your presence and the interest of the UN Secretary-General in sending this special mission… pic.twitter.com/OxQadpLMAq
— Edmundo Gonzalez (@EdmundoGU) July 21, 2024
On July 9, the United Nations reported that a team of experts had arrived in the South American country to witness and assist in the pre-election process as well as on election day and in the days following the election.
The experts will prepare a report that will not be made public, but which they will submit to the UN secretary-general, and which will include “recommendations for possible improvements to future electoral processes in Venezuela.”
The group said it would remain in the country “until a few days after the elections” and its members “will have full freedom to meet with political and social actors, as well as electoral authorities and experts”.
Observers from the Carter Center, the Latin American Council of Electoral Experts (Ceela), African organizations, and other representatives invited by the National Electoral Council (CNE) will also participate in the presidential election.
On July 12, González Urrutia met with representatives of the Carter Center, where he thanked them for “their presence and companionship during this critical electoral process,” but the details of the meeting are unclear.
Until the end of May, the EU delegation was still on the list of invited observers, but the CNE withdrew the invitation after approving personal and individual sanctions by the EU bloc against members of the government and the ruling party.
Ten candidates will compete in these presidential elections, including Maduro, who is seeking a third consecutive six-year term in power.
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