UN Expert Panel Sent to Venezuela Blasts Lack of Transparency in Presidential Elections

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)
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)
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UN Expert Panel Sent to Venezuela Blasts Lack of Transparency in Presidential Elections

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)
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)

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, The AP reported.

A four-member team sent by UN 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 UN 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 UN experts said in a statement late Tuesday.

The UN 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 US “imperialism.”

While the UN 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.



Russia Teams up with China at Start of Big Naval Drills 

In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry press service on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, Russian and Chinese warships sail in the Peter the Great Gulf during Ocean-2024 strategic command and staff exercises in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry press service on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, Russian and Chinese warships sail in the Peter the Great Gulf during Ocean-2024 strategic command and staff exercises in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
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Russia Teams up with China at Start of Big Naval Drills 

In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry press service on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, Russian and Chinese warships sail in the Peter the Great Gulf during Ocean-2024 strategic command and staff exercises in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry press service on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, Russian and Chinese warships sail in the Peter the Great Gulf during Ocean-2024 strategic command and staff exercises in Russia. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Russian and Chinese warships began exercises on Tuesday as part of what Moscow said was a major set of naval drills stretching from the Mediterranean to the Pacific.

Russia's Defense Ministry said four Chinese warships and a supply vessel teamed up with Russian ships in Peter the Great Bay, south of Vladivostok, for exercises "to defend sea communications and areas of maritime economic activity".

It said those drills were part of much larger maneuvers involving more than 400 Russian warships, submarines and support vessels that would run until Sept. 16 in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and the Mediterranean, Baltic and Caspian seas.

China's official Xinhua news agency said on Monday that the aim of the exercise with Russia was to deepen "the level of strategic coordination between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their ability to jointly respond to security threats".

Russia's armed forces have been heavily stretched on land and sea for the past two and a half years by its war in Ukraine. Ukrainian forces, despite being vastly outgunned in naval firepower, have managed to inflict damaging blows on Moscow's Black Sea Fleet.

Russia has nevertheless continued to stage large-scale military exercises - including thousands of miles away in its far east - in order to project power and build defense ties with partners, especially China.