Region:
America
Category:
Politics

OAS urges Venezuela to reconsider its electoral process

Region:
America
Category:
Politics
Publication date:
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19 of the 24 members voted in favor of a resolution calling on Venezuela to postpone the elections scheduled for April

The Organization of American States, a continental organization dedicated to addressing Western Hemispheric affairs, urged Venezuela to postpone April’s presidential elections and guarantee a “just and free” process with international oversight.

The organization passed a resolution with 19 member countries voting in favor. Five countries voted against the measure, eight refrained from participating and two were absent. Venezuela and Bolivia were the only countries that vehemently rejected the call to this session, according to Venezuela’s newspaper El Nacional.

This is the first time that American states gathered to address Venezuelan affairs since a summit took place in Cancun, Mexico, in June of 2017. The organization, however, failed to reach a resolution to condemn the Nicolás Maduro administration’s National Constituent Assembly, a powerful legislative body created last summer that overrides laws and other decision-making made by the National Assembly—the only sector not controlled by his party, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.