MIAMI (AP) — A panel of experts from the United Nations said Venezuela's recent presidential elections lacked “basic transparency and integrity,” adding an important voice to those who have cast doubt on President Nicolás Maduro's claim he won the contest.
A four-member team sent by U.N. Secretary General António Guterres was in Caracas for over a month in the run up to the July 28 election, one of the few independent outside observers invited by Maduro's government.
While the U.N. group praised the logistic organization of the voting, it harshly criticized the National Electoral Council, or CNE, for flouting local rules and announcing Maduro the winner without tabulated results from each of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, something it said “had no precedent in contemporary democratic elections.”
“This had a negative impact on confidence in the outcome announced by the CNE among a large part of the Venezuelan electorate,” the U.N. experts said in a statement late Tuesday.
The U.N. statement follows criticism by another invited observer, the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which said it could not verify the CNE's results. Venezuela's foreign minister has blasted the Carter Center, accusing it of lying and servings as a tool of U.S. “imperialism.”
While the U.N. team stopped short of validating claims by the opposition that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González, trounced Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin, it said that the voting records the anti-Maduro coalition published online appeared to exhibit all of the original security features.
“This suggests a key transparency safeguard may be available, as intended, with respect to any officially released results,” the experts added, noting that electoral authorities failed to meet with the group prior to the mission's departure from Venezuela five days after voting.
Since the election, security forces have arrested more than 2,000 people for demonstrating against Maduro or casting doubt on his claims that he won a third term.
Separately on Tuesday, the U.N.'s top human rights official expressed concern over the arbitrary detentions and “disproportionate use of force” in Venezuela as part of the crackdown.
“It is especially troubling that so many people are being detained, accused or charged either with incitement to hatred or under counterterrorism legislation," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement. “Criminal law must never be used to limit unduly the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.”
Türk's comments come as Venezuela's opposition gears up for a demonstration Saturday that it hopes will increase pressure on Maduro to recognize defeat and negotiate a political transition.
“If Maduro makes a realistic evaluation of his options, he'll understand that digging in is not sustainable,” opposition leader María Corina Machado told journalists Tuesday.
Machado, who anointed previously unknown retired diplomat Edmundo González as her stand-in once she was banned from running in the presidential campaign, spoke to journalists at a virtual press conference from an undisclosed location due to safety concerns.
In her comments, she tried to temper expectations for a quick resolution of the political crisis.
“Nobody knows how long it will take, but without a doubt there are painful days that await us,” Machado said.
The U.N. human rights office said that in most of the cases it has documented, detainees haven't been allowed to appoint lawyers of their choice or have contact with their families. “Some of these cases would amount to enforced disappearances,” it said.
Türk called for "the immediate release of everyone who has been arbitrarily detained, and for fair trial guarantees for all detainees.” He added that “the disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials and the attacks on demonstrators by armed individuals supporting the government, some resulting in deaths, must not be repeated.”
Türk also noted there have been reports of violence against public officials and public buildings by some demonstrators and said violence is never the answer.
On Monday, International Criminal Court prosecutors said they are “actively monitoring” events in Venezuela.
AP Writer Astrid Suárez in Bogota, Colombia, contributed to this report. Follow AP’s coverage of Venezuela at https://apnews.com/hub/venezuela
Lawmaker Diosdado Cabello stands next to an image of late President Hugo Chavez in Congress as the National Assembly debates a bill that controls and regulates NGOs, in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Family members of those detained amid a government crackdown on protestors participate in a vigil in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A family member of a protestor detained amid a government crackdown speaks during a vigil in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Aug. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
PRAGUE (AP) — The head of NATO's military committee said Saturday that Ukraine has the solid legal and military right to strike deep inside Russia to gain combat advantage — reflecting the beliefs of a number of U.S. allies — even as the Biden administration balks at allowing Kyiv to do so using American-made weapons.
“Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn’t stop at the border of your own nation,” said Adm. Rob Bauer, speaking at the close of the committee's annual meeting, also attended by U.S. Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Bauer, of Netherlands, also added that nations have the sovereign right to put limits on the weapons they send to Ukraine. But, standing next to him at a press briefing, Lt. Gen. Karel Řehka, chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, made it clear his nation places no such weapons restrictions on Kyiv.
“We believe that the Ukrainians should decide themselves how to use it,” Řehka said.
Their comments came as U.S. President Joe Biden is weighing whether to allow Ukraine to use American-provided long-range weapons to hit deep into Russia. And they hint at the divisions over the issue.
Biden met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, after this week’s visit to Kyiv by their top diplomats, who came under fresh pressure to loosen weapons restrictions. U.S. officials familiar with discussions said they believed Starmer was seeking Biden’s approval to allow Ukraine to use British Storm Shadow missiles for expanded strikes in Russia.
Biden’s approval may be needed because Storm Shadow components are made in the U.S. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to share the status of private conversations, said they believed Biden would be amenable, but there has been no decision announced yet.
Providing additional support and training for Ukraine was a key topic at the NATO chiefs’ meeting, but it wasn't clear Saturday if the debate over the U.S. restrictions was discussed.
Many of the European nations have been vigorously supportive of Ukraine in part because they worry about being the next victim of an empowered Russia.
At the opening of the meeting, Czech Republic President Petr Pavel broadly urged the military chiefs gathered in the room to be ”bold and open in articulating your assessments and recommendations. The rounder and the softer they are, the less they will be understood by the political level.”
The allies, he said, must “take the right steps and the right decisions to protect our countries and our way of life.”
The military leaders routinely develop plans and recommendations that are then sent to the civilian NATO defense secretaries for discussion and then on to the nations' leaders in the alliance.
The U.S. allows Ukraine to use American-provided weapons in cross-border strikes to counter attacks by Russian forces. But it doesn’t allow Kyiv to fire long-range missiles, such as the ATACMS, deep into Russia. The U.S. has argued that Ukraine has drones that can strike far and should use ATACMS judiciously because they only have a limited number.
Ukraine has increased its pleas with Washington to lift the restrictions, particularly as winter looms and Kyiv worries about Russian gains during the colder months.
“You want to weaken the enemy that attacks you in order to not only fight the arrows that come your way, but also attack the archer that is, as we see, very often operating from Russia proper into Ukraine,” said Bauer. “So militarily, there’s a good reason to do that, to weaken the enemy, to weaken its logistic lines, fuel, ammunition that comes to the front. That is what you want to stop, if at all possible.”
Brown, for his part, told reporters traveling with him to the meeting that the U.S. policy on long-range weapons remains in place.
But, he added, “by the same token, what we want to do is — regardless of that policy — we want to continue to make Ukraine successful with the capabilities that have been provided” by the U.S. and other nations in the coalition, as well as the weapons Kyiv has been able to build itself.
“They’ve proven themselves fairly effective in building out uncrewed aerial vehicles, in building out drones,” Brown told reporters traveling with him to meetings in Europe.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made similar points, arguing that one weapons system won't determine success in the war.
“There are a number of things that go into the overall equation as to whether or not you know you want to provide one capability or another," Austin said Friday. “There is no silver bullet when it comes to things like this.”
He also noted that Ukraine has already been able to strike inside Russia with its own internally produced systems, including drones.
FILE - Rescuers search for victims in an apartment building destroyed by Russian missile attack in centre Lviv, Western Ukraine, Sept. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Mykola Tys, File)
FILE - NATO's Chair of the Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer listens during the plenary session of the Seoul Defense Dialogue in Seoul, South Korea, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
