Colombia reiterates that it will not recognize results in Venezuela until doubts are dispelled

The Foreign Minister of Colombia, Luis Gilberto Murillo, reiterated this Tuesday that his country will not recognize the supposed victory of Nicolás Maduro in the Venezuelan elections until “dispelling any doubt” about the “legitimacy and legality” of the results of the elections held on July 28.

«The president (Colombian, Gustavo) Petro has been very clear: We are not going to recognize the results until those doubts are dispelled.“, which has not been done and should have been done in accordance with the Venezuelan legal system on August 28,” said Murillo during a political control debate in the Senate about the executive’s position regarding the Venezuelan elections.

The governments of Colombia, Brazil and Mexico have tried to mediate in the crisis that Venezuela is experiencing since the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced Maduro’s disputed victory.

None of these countries have yet recognized Maduro’s re-election, But they have not opted for the triumph of the opposition’s standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, either, and are committed to requesting that the electoral records be published and opening paths of dialogue between the parties.

In that sense, Murillo assured that Colombia proposes “that in order to dispel any doubt, the process of publishing voting records must take place, it must demand that there be impartial international oversight of these results of the electoral process.”

«The Colombian government respects the principle of sovereignty and independence of the states. We are going to continue working and it is something that Venezuelans must resolve. But there are serious doubts of legitimacy and legality that have to be dispelled, and that can only be done with what Colombia has been demanding,” added the chancellor.

Colombia and Brazil: Without minutes there is no recognition

On September 25, Petro pointed out in an interview with CNN that Colombia and Brazil have a common position: “If there is no presentation of minutes, “There is no recognition.”

On August 22, the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) of Venezuela, chaired by Chavista Caryslia Rodríguez, validated the official results of the elections, questioned inside and outside the country.

Meanwhile, the majority opposition – grouped in the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – maintains that its standard-bearer, González Urrutia, is the winner of the elections based on “83.5% of the electoral records”, collected by witnesses and members table on election day, to reinforce their claim.

To date, the CNE has not published the disaggregated results – as established in its schedule – that confirm Maduro’s victory, despite numerous requests from the opposition and a large part of the international community.