Aloysio: Venezuela is heading towards "gigantic fraud" in the elections.
In a statement, Senator Aloysio Nunes Ferreira (PSDB-SP), president of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the decision of President Nicolás Maduro, whom he calls a "tyrant," to refuse to receive international observers to monitor the Venezuelan elections on December 6th; "We are heading towards a gigantic electoral fraud. Dilma Rousseff needs to speak out immediately," stated the senator.
247 - Senator Aloysio Nunes Ferreira (PSDB-SP), president of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, criticized the risk of fraud in Venezuela's elections in a press release on Wednesday, the 29th.
According to the senator from the PSDB party, President Nicolás Maduro reneged on the commitment made to the Brazilian government, within the framework of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), to allow the monitoring of Venezuelan elections by impartial international organizations. "We are heading towards a gigantic electoral fraud. Dilma Rousseff needs to speak out immediately," he stated.
"As for me, I will hold Brazilian diplomacy accountable for the commitments made and reaffirmed by Minister Mauro Vieira before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," he added.
Elections in Venezuela are scheduled for December 6th. During a visit to New York, Nicolás Maduro ruled out monitoring the election. "Venezuela is not being monitored and will not be monitored by anyone," the president told reporters.
Following a visit to Caracas in March, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said he had received assurances from Venezuelan electoral authorities that they would allow the presence of UNASUR observers. Since then, however, the Venezuelan government says it will only accept UNASUR missions restricted to "monitoring" functions, without real powers to oversee and monitor the electoral process against possible fraud.
On Monday, the 27th, the Venezuelan opposition leader and governor of the state of Miranda, Henrique Capriles, visited the headquarters of the Organization of American States in Washington to request the dispatch of observers from the organization.
Read below the full text of the senator's statement:
Note from Senator Aloysio Nunes Ferreira regarding the risk of fraud in the Venezuelan elections.
The tyrant Nicolás Maduro, a PT (Workers' Party) associate of the São Paulo Forum, is reneging on the commitment he made to the Brazilian government, within the framework of UNASUR, to allow the monitoring of Venezuelan elections by impartial international organizations.
We are heading towards a massive electoral fraud. Dilma Rousseff needs to speak out immediately.
As for me, I will hold Brazilian diplomacy accountable for the commitments made and reaffirmed by Minister Mauro Vieira before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator Aloysio Nunes Ferreira (PSDB-SP)
President of the Senate's Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defense (CRE)