Original: Spanish
The Socialist International, at its Council meeting held on 26-27 June 2018 at the United Nations in Geneva, observes with concern the conflict of powers in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, where the Executive Power attempts by illegal means and contrary to the Constitution to curb the attributions of the National Assembly which was democratically elected by the Venezuelan people and is representative of the peoples’ sovereignty.
Once again, the Socialist International extends its solidarity to the Venezuelan people in their struggle to recover the effective validity of democracy in that country.
The Socialist International shares and supports the conclusions reached by the Council of the European Union regarding the electoral process that took place in Venezuela on 20 May 2018, expressing that “the election and the results lack credibility because the electoral process did not grant the necessary guarantees for the holding of integral and democratic elections”. The SI also shares the appeal made by the 28 states of the European Union for new presidential elections to be held in accordance with internationally recognized democratic norms and the Venezuelan constitutional order.
The International emphatically rejects the massive violation of human rights in Venezuela, the lack of separation of public powers, the politically motivated persecutions in the country and the existence of more than 400 political prisoners, including the leader of a member party of our organization, Leopoldo López.
Finally, the SI reiterates its recognition of the Venezuelan National Assembly as the legitimate representative of the country’s popular sovereignty elected by a great majority on 6 December 2015, and whose mandate is in force until the last day of the year 2020.
_______________
