Brazil to send election observers to Venezuela presidential election

Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court (TSE), which a month ago rejected an invitation from the Nicolás Maduro government to send observers to the country’s July 28 presidential election, announced on Wednesday that it had reviewed its decision and will send two observers to the country’s July 28 presidential election.

Despite initially saying it would not send observers to Venezuela without explaining its refusal, Brazil’s top electoral authority has informed its foreign ministry that it will send two technicians to the neighboring country.

According to the notification sent to the Prime Minister’s Office, they are Sandra Damiani, TSE’s director of electoral management consulting, and José de Melo Cruz, head of electoral system coordination.

Brazil’s electoral court did not explain why it changed its decision.

In June, he sparked controversy when he rejected an invitation from Venezuela’s National Electoral Council to host an observation mission announced by the European Union.

At the time, there were also doubts about the possibility of Maduro’s opposition candidates taking part in the election, with several blocked from registering, and anti-Chavez accusations that the government was preparing to rig the election to remain in power.

Maduro, who is eager for re-election and has ruled Venezuela since the death of Hugo Chavez in 2013, leads a regime the opposition accuses of seizing electoral authorities.

The government of then-President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022) severed ties with Venezuela because it considered the country to be under a dictatorship, a situation that was reversed shortly after Chávez’s former ally, the progressive Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, assumed office as Brazil’s head of state.

While some countries have accused Venezuela of violating the Barbados Agreement, in which Maduro’s government pledged to push for transparent presidential elections this year in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, Brazil has expressed confidence in the normalization of the situation.