Caracas/The Alliance for Venezuela (Ave), a new coalition made up of nine political and social organizations, demanded this Monday “free, fair and verifiable” presidential elections in the country with the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado as a candidate.
“The fundamental point that we are demanding is the early holding of presidential elections, an electoral schedule (…) that establishes a certain date for the appointment of the new president of the republic, and I can say it openly: María Corina Machado (will be) our candidate,” said Noel Álvarez, spokesperson for the group, at the launch of the Ave.
In a document, the alliance demanded the lifting of the “arbitrary disqualifications, in particular the one that seeks to prohibit the nomination” of Machado, as well as the designation of an “impartial” National Electoral Council (CNE), currently headed by officials related to Chavismo.
In that sense, he stated that there is an “urgency for legitimate authorities, transparency and international cooperation that reaches those who really need it, without intermediaries of pain,” and that Venezuela “is not saved with patches or empty promises,” but with “independent institutions.”
Venezuela “is not saved with patches or empty promises”, but with “independent institutions”
“But there will be no true democracy while a single Venezuelan groans in the dungeons of repression. That is why we raise our voices for the full and unconditional release of all political, civil and military prisoners, and for the definitive cessation of torture and harassment,” the text states.
Álvarez assured that the Ave will work “in the coming days” on the re-institutionalization of the country and to “enable all candidates, rescue all political organizations” and to open the electoral registry so that migrants can vote “freely”, among other objectives.
“The process at this time has to be between Venezuelans, the decision and everything that comes out has to be Venezuelan, where we are all represented,” said the former president of Fedecámaras, the country’s largest employer association, for whom the support of the United States is also “welcome.”
Washington promotes a dialogue between a sector of the opposition and the Government of the Venezuelan interim president, Delcy Rodríguez
Washington promotes a dialogue between a sector of the opposition and the Government of the Venezuelan president in charge, Delcy Rodríguez, for the transition in the South American country, whose next cycle of talks is scheduled for the second half of September, after reaching some first agreements in August that include the renewal of the Supreme Court.
Former deputy Eustoquio Contreras, a dissident of Chavismo, said at the Ave press conference that this dialogue table “is a creation by interests and by unilateral decision of the” American Government and “unconditionally obeyed by those who usurp power in Miraflores”, seat of the Venezuelan Government.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump stressed that the elections in Venezuela will be held “when they are ready.”
