CARACAS. – Ambassadors of the European Union(EU) met on Thursday, January 25, with the vice president of the regime, Delcy Rodríguez, and the president of the National Assembly (AN) with a Chavista majority, deputy Jorge Rodríguez. The parliamentarian is also the head of Nicolás Maduro’s delegation at the Negotiation and Dialogue Table.
After the meeting, the EU released a statement in which it indicated its willingness “to exchange with the authorities about the organization of a European electoral observation mission.”
In November of last year, Maduro and several of his officials denied the possibility of observation after the sanctions against Venezuela were extended for another semester: “These measures do not affect the population in general and can be reversed based on the progress made in the reestablishment of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights in Venezuela,” the EU said.
On Wednesday, January 24, the EU reported on an agenda of meetings “with relevant actors” in the dialogue for compliance with the Barbados Agreements signed in 2023 between the regime and the opposition bloc that makes up the Unitary Platform.
The ambassadors of the member states of the European Union expressed to Maduro’s representatives their support for the dialogue process “towards fair electionstransparent and competitive” for this year’s presidential elections.
The European Union report
In February 2022, the European Union presented the report of the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) of the regional elections held in Venezuela in November 2021.
Observers recorded negative aspects such as the lack of judicial independence and respect for the Rule of law. In addition, the EU referred to the arbitrary disqualification of opposition leaders who tried to run for public office, the use of public resources in the electoral campaign; unequal access to the media and social networks during the campaign, and the selective blocking of websites.
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Source: European Union
