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.



South Korean President Arrested Over Failed Martial Law Bid

15 January 2025, South Korea, Seoul: A TV screen at Seoul Station, shows a report that police and the anti-corruption agency executed a second warrant to detain impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
15 January 2025, South Korea, Seoul: A TV screen at Seoul Station, shows a report that police and the anti-corruption agency executed a second warrant to detain impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
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South Korean President Arrested Over Failed Martial Law Bid

15 January 2025, South Korea, Seoul: A TV screen at Seoul Station, shows a report that police and the anti-corruption agency executed a second warrant to detain impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law. Photo: -/YNA/dpa
15 January 2025, South Korea, Seoul: A TV screen at Seoul Station, shows a report that police and the anti-corruption agency executed a second warrant to detain impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in connection to his short-lived imposition of martial law. Photo: -/YNA/dpa

Impeached South Korean leader Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on Wednesday over his failed martial law bid, ending a weeks-long standoff with authorities and becoming the first president to be detained in the nation's history.

Yoon, who faces charges of insurrection over his short-lived effort to impose martial law last month, said he would comply with investigators to avoid "bloodshed.”

A former prosecutor who led the conservative People Power Party (PPP) to election victory in 2022, Yoon could face the death penalty or life in jail if he is found guilty of insurrection.

He had sought to evade arrest for weeks by remaining in his residential compound, protected by members of the Presidential Security Service (PSS) who had remained loyal to him.

His guards had installed barbed wire and barricades at the residence, turning it into what the opposition called a "fortress.”

Yoon, who had vowed to "fight to the end,” managed to thwart a first arrest attempt on January 3 following a tense hours-long impasse between the guards and anti-graft investigators working with police.

But before dawn on Wednesday, hundreds of police officers and investigators from the Corruption Investigation Office again surrounded the residence, some scaling perimeter walls and hiking up back trails to reach the main building.

After a standoff of about five hours, authorities announced Yoon had been arrested and the impeached leader released a pre-recorded video message.

"I decided to respond to the Corruption Investigation Office," Yoon said in the message, adding that he did not accept the legality of the investigation but was complying "to prevent any unfortunate bloodshed.”

AFP said that Yoon left his residence in a convoy and was taken to the offices of the Corruption Investigation Office.

Investigators began questioning Yoon shortly after his arrest, Yonhap reported.