Gabriel Boric says that Nicolás Maduro is trying to commit fraud in the elections: “I have no doubts”

Chilean President Gabriel Boric said on Wednesday, August 7, that There is no doubt that the government of Nicolás Maduro is trying to “commit fraud” by failing to publicly present the minutes of the Venezuelan presidential election of July 28, in which he was proclaimed the winner.

“I have no doubt that the Maduro regime has attempted to commit fraud. “If not, they would have shown the famous minutes. Why didn’t they do it? If they had won, they would clearly have shown the minutes,” Boric said in a statement at the presidential palace of La Moneda.

The Chilean president He was one of the first leaders to question the transparency of Venezuela’s presidential elections. On the night of the election, he said that the results, which gave Maduro a 51.2% victory, were “hard to believe.”

Several governments have not recognized the results of the election, and the Venezuelan opposition claims that the winner was former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia.

“Chile does not recognize Maduro’s self-proclaimed victory. “We do not trust, moreover, in the independence or impartiality of the current institutions in Venezuela,” added the Chilean president.

“Mr. Gabriel Boric is positioned to the right of Javier Milei and the US State Department, His mask has definitely fallen, his Pinochet-style coup government is exposed,” wrote Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil on social media.

Boric also said that in Venezuela “Serious human rights violations are being committed, repressing people who are demonstrating and, furthermore, initiating criminal prosecutions that are ridiculous.”

According to the Venezuelan human rights NGO Provea, the death toll in Venezuela in opposition protests against Maduro’s re-election rose to 24 on Tuesday.

The Venezuelan authorities, for their part, Two soldiers reported dead in violent incidents which broke out on the very night of the election.

On Monday, August 5, the President of Chile met in Santiago with the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who is carrying out negotiations with the Colombian Gustavo Petro and the Mexican Andrés Manuel López Obrador. to promote a way out of the crisis in Venezuela.

“The commitment to peace is what leads us to call the parties to dialogue and to promote understanding between the government and the opposition,” said Lula, whose government has not openly recognized the re-election of Nicolás Maduro.

“Respect for popular sovereignty is what motivates us to defend transparency and results,” he added.

Lula and Boric have not recognized the opposition candidate González Urrutia as the winner of the elections, as have been done by the governments of Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama and the United States.

In retaliation for Boric’s stance on the electoral process, Venezuela expelled the Chilean diplomatic delegation in Caracas.