Venezuela: Meeting under “Any other Business”
Today (5 September), following the closed consultations on the Syria chemical weapons track, Council members will discuss Venezuela under “any other business”. Ecuador requested that members address the situation in the country, where the results of the 28 July presidential election, in which Nicolás Maduro was announced the winner, have been strongly disputed by several national and international actors. Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Miroslav Jenča is expected to brief.
The July elections in Venezuela pitted Maduro, who has served as president since 2013, against Edmundo González Urrutia, a retired diplomat who stepped in as the opposition candidate after popular opposition politician Maria Corina Machado was blocked from running by the supreme court. The National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner of the election, saying on 2 August that he had secured close to 52 percent of the votes. To date, the CNE—which is reportedly controlled by officials loyal to Maduro—has not published vote tallies to support its oral announcement. The opposition has contested the results announced by the CNE and published tally sheets online that it claims demonstrate that González had won by a substantial margin.
At the invitation of the CNE, a UN Panel of Experts consisting of four electoral experts deployed to Venezuela from late June through 2 August to follow the election process. In an interim report, which was made public on 13 August and contained preliminary observations, the Panel noted that while the pre-electoral period “was marked by continuous restrictions on civic and political space”, the election day took place in a largely peaceful environment and the vote was logistically well organised. However, it determined that the CNE’s management of the result announcement process “fell short of the basic transparency and integrity measures that are essential to holding credible elections”. The Panel stated that the announcement of an election result without publishing the tallies “has no precedent in contemporary democratic elections”, adding that this has eroded the confidence “in the outcome announced by the CNE among a large part of the Venezuelan electorate”. In a 13 August statement, Venezuelan authorities rejected the findings of the Panel’s report and alleged that it violates the terms that the Panel had signed with the CNE.
The disputed election results led thousands of people to protest across Venezuela in the days following the announcement. In a 13 August statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed concern over reports of disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials against protestors and “attacks on demonstrators by armed individuals supporting the government”. He further decried the “continuing number of arbitrary detentions”, noting that over 2,400 people had been arrested between 29 July and 13 August. The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela—which was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2019—recorded 23 deaths between 28 July and 8 August in the context of the protests, noting that the majority were caused by gunfire.
On 2 September, following a request from Venezuela’s Prosecutor’s Office, a judge in Venezuela issued an arrest warrant against González. The request was made after González failed to comply with three summons from the Prosecutor’s Office regarding its investigation into the opposition website which published the tally sheets. The issuance of the arrest warrant has been condemned by several international interlocutors, including the US. In a 3 September statement, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reiterated its concern about the ongoing “climate of fear” resulting from “the violent repression of dissenting voices” in the country.
Secretary-General António Guterres has called for complete transparency and encouraged the “timely publication of the election results and a breakdown by polling stations”. He further called on Venezuelan political actors to resolve all electoral disputes through peaceful means. In a 23 August statement, Guterres expressed concern about reports of human rights violations in the aftermath of the election, including “alleged arbitrary detention of minors, journalists, human rights defenders, members or supporters of the opposition and others”, and emphasised the need to uphold the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Jenča may reiterate similar messages at today’s meeting.
The contested election results in Venezuela have sparked mixed reactions from international interlocutors. The US has been particularly vocal in criticising Maduro’s government, accusing his officials of tampering with the election results and carrying out widespread repression to maintain power. Washington has also expressed its conviction that González won the vote. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles said on 29 August that, since there are no official tallies or verification of the results, the EU “cannot accept Maduro’s legitimacy as Venezuela’s president-elect”. However, the EU has stopped short from recognising González as the winner of the election. Several regional countries, including Ecuador, have criticised the election results. Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico have been trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis, urging the CNE to release the vote tallies. On 16 August, the Organization of American States (OAS)—a multilateral regional body comprised of 34 countries from the Americas—adopted a resolution which called, among other things, for the CNE to release the election tallies and for Venezuelan political actors to “abstain from any conduct that might jeopardize the peaceful settlement of this crisis”. Several other countries, including China and Russia, have congratulated Maduro for his victory in the elections. These differing positions are likely to be reflected in Council members’ statements at today’s meeting.
Several members are expected to express concern about the lack of transparency in announcing the election results and call on the CNE to publish the vote tallies. Some might express concern about the repression of protestors and political dissent, while emphasising the need to uphold the right to the freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Many members are likely to call for a peaceful resolution of the crisis, and some might express support for regional mediation efforts in this regard. Some members may be interested in hearing Jenča’s assessment on what more can the UN do to promote dialogue between political actors in Venezuela, including through its good offices. Members like China and Russia, however, may argue that the events in Venezuela are an internal affair that should not be discussed by Council members.
