‘Euronews’ speaks with the deputy of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Juan Romero, one of the electoral managers of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro’s party, following accusations of fraud.
Two days after Venezuelan elections this Sundayin which the National Electoral Council has proclaimed winner Nicolas Maduro amid accusations of fraud, the country is burning in protests. At least seven people have died and more than 700 have been arrested there accused of terrorism.
The opposition claims to have more than 70% of the vote count. According to these, Edmundo González Urrutia would be the winner of the elections. It is these events that have caused thousands of Venezuelans opposed to Chavismo to take to the streets. tearing down statues of Chávez or electoral posters of Nicolás Maduro.
In this context, in which part of the international community, including the European Union, demand greater transparency and still refuse to recognize the Maduro’s controversial victory, Since its formation they have defended the electoral process.
‘Euronews’ speaks with one of those responsible for the electoral processes within the ruling party (PSUV). He deputy of the National Assembly Juan Romero He assists us by phone from his State, Zulia.
QUESTION: As a member responsible for the electoral process within Nicolás Maduro’s party, are you aware of the lack of credibility you are having?
ANSWER: Despite all the opinion matrices that try to minimize the Venezuelan electoral system, everything turned out within normal dynamics. The opposition itself is the one that built distrust in the electoral system based on manipulation.
Q: Not even the European Union considers the process transparent and has reported irregularities.
R: To reach the July 28 election 16 audits were necessary, a voting notebook, the letters, the fingerprint registry, the identification codes of the voting machines, of each center, the preparation of the members, the observers…
Q: Well, the presence of numerous international observers was vetoed, including several Spaniards. Why were they not allowed to enter the country?
R: A big commotion was created… They were representatives of the People’s Party. If I wanted to go to the United States as a political representative, they wouldn’t have let me through if I didn’t do the process well. We invite many international observers.
Q: What happens, Mr. Romero, is that these invitations have only been made to observers related to the Government of Nicolás Maduro.
R: Each political organization that nominates a candidate suggests to the national government, the National Electoral Council and the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry a set of names for them to be observers.
International observation has certain conditions, the observer has to be impartial in the observation. Some representatives of Milei’s party in Argentina have stated that this Government is a dictatorship, which is why they do not comply with the condition of impartiality. That’s what happened.
Q: But there were impartial observers, related to the Government.
R: The opposition proposed its observers. There were more than 600 in total. The international media made a fuss because 30 were returned but no international media said that there were more than 600 observers in the electoral process in Venezuela.
ADVERTISINGQ: The opposition has more than 70% of the voting records and the result does not coincide with what the National Electoral Council has given.
R: Again, it’s manipulation.
Q: But the records give a victory to Edmundo González.
R: Well, let them prove it because we have the same minutes and the result was given by the National Electoral Council, in which there are representatives of the opposition.
ADVERTISINGQ: Well, the Council is headed by people related to the Government…
R: Let me finish the idea. There are representatives of the opposition in the National Electoral Council. If the manipulation were true, these members of the institution would have expressed it.
Q: María Corina Machado has stated it.
R: But not the members of the Council.
ADVERTISINGQ: In Spain, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has asked the National Electoral Center and the Government of Venezuela to make public the minutes of each of the electoral college tables. Are they going to publish them?
R: The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain is unaware, like many in Europe, of the nature of the Venezuelan electoral system. The statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain demonstrates his ignorance of the electoral system and also demonstrates the attempt to manipulate the results.
Q: Historical allies of Venezuela have not yet recognized victory, don’t you think it’s strange?
R: I’m not surprised. This is also a product of ignorance of the very nature of the electoral system; there have been disrespectful statements about the reality of what has happened.
ADVERTISINGQ: Exiled opposition leaders, such as Leopoldo López Gil, have expressed to ‘Euronews’ their concern for the physical integrity of Edmundo González and María Corina Machado. Can you guarantee the safety of the members of the opposition?
R: Of course, they even have state protection.
Q: But during the campaign they have suffered attacks.
R: We have recordings that show how they organized everything.
ADVERTISINGQ: Do you say it was a setup?
R: Yes, we have the evidence and recordings of María Corina pointing out that they were going to set it up to encourage voting. It’s all fictitious.
Q: Why don’t you publish that video?
R: They are published.
ADVERTISINGQ: Can you send it to me?
R: I’ll look for it to send it to you.
Q: Would you agree to a second count or an external audit?
R: I repeat, the Electoral Law that governs Venezuela establishes that the voting record is not issued if the table presidents do not confirm that the number of ballots that appear in the ballot box coincides with the number of signatures that appear in the electoral notebook. Therefore, the audit is already done.
ADVERTISINGQ: I mean a second audit.
R: What has already been reviewed will not be reviewed. We are not going to review the electoral result. It’s something that’s already been done. We have already done all the verifications.
Q: If you accept the results published by the National Electoral Center as valid, do you think they are good for Maduro?
R: I think we could have achieved more but it is difficult. But we are satisfied.
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