Gabriel Boric: “The Supreme Court of Venezuela ended the consolidation of fraud”

Chilean President Gabriel Boric was the first president to react this Thursday to the decision of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), which declared Nicolás Maduro’s victory in the July 28 elections legitimate. “The TSJ has completed consolidating the fraud,” Boric said. He also accused Chavismo of “leading a dictatorship that is not leftist.” Boric has been criticizing Maduro for several weeks and defending the allegations of electoral fraud made by the Venezuelan opposition. His voice is particularly heard because he is a president who came to power under a new Latin American leftism with leaders under the age of 40. Meanwhile, according to Brazilian diplomatic sources, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro are in consultations for coordination before speaking publicly.

Boric published a long text on his social networks in which he attacked a court decision that he considers “outrageous”. “There is no doubt that we are facing a dictatorship that falsifies elections, represses those who think differently and is indifferent to the largest deportation in the world, which can be compared to Syria as a result of the war (…) Chile does not recognize this false self-proclaimed victory of Maduro and company,” Boric wrote. And he called for the creation of a “profoundly democratic continental left that respects human rights, no matter the color of those who violate them.”

Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou’s criticism has also been strong, and like Boric, he has used words like fraud and dictatorship. The Uruguayan president has accused the Supreme Court of “confirming fraud” and said that “the Maduro regime is a dictatorship that closes all doors to institutional and democratic life for its people.” His message ends with a call to maintain pressure “in defense of the Venezuelan issue.”

Maduro’s electoral victory has so far only been recognized by countries that are Maduro’s unconditional allies, such as Russia, Cuba or Nicaragua. The Supreme Court validated the results without the Electoral Birth Council (CNE), which is also controlled by the government, revealing the documents supporting it. Chavismo has turned a deaf ear to international demands to present official documents proving its victory in the elections. The Supreme Court’s decision is a slap in the face to the demands for transparency from the opposition as well as the United States, the European Union, Brazil, Colombia or the United Nations.

Brazilian and Colombian diplomats have continued their joint efforts in recent days to persuade Maduro to negotiate a peaceful solution to the crisis that has already seen 27 people killed and 2,400 arrested. The fact that the Supreme Court has, by the minute, endorsed a result that only Chavismo has seen means that Maduro has doubled down. It is a major setback for the efforts led by Presidents Lula and Petro. Neither Brazil nor Colombia have yet reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision. Yes, two former Colombian presidents, Iván Duque (2018-2022) and Juan Manuel Santos (2010-2018), did so, agreeing in their criticism. “It is a blow to the Venezuelan people,” Duque said. “This decision is a fraud. Colombia cannot and should not support it,” Santos warned.

Lula’s adviser for international affairs, retired diplomat Celso Amorim, also said, albeit briefly and without going into assessments or details: “I consider things to be really very difficult, but we will continue to try, with the help of others and in collaboration with others.” “With countries that have a similar point of view to ours, we will do everything possible to avoid a very conflictual situation internally,” he told Brazilian media. Capital Letters,

The UN Human Rights Council’s mission to Venezuela has warned of the complicity of both the Supreme Court and electoral officials with Chavismo ahead of the verdict supporting Maduro’s victory. They have accused the TSJ and the CNE of lacking impartiality and independence “in addition to playing roles within the repressive machine of the state”. The UN body has recalled that the president of the Supreme Court, Carislia Rodríguez, is a member of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and holds popularly elected positions; while the head of the CNE, Elvis Amoroso, was also a pro-government deputy and was responsible for the disqualification of opposition leader María Corina Machado last January.

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