Dominican Republic urges transparency in Venezuelan election at OAS meeting

Santo Domingo.- Dominican Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez urged Venezuelan authorities, through the Organization of American States (OAS), to publish the original minutes of electoral colleges to ensure transparency and credibility in the recent election. Speaking at an OAS extraordinary session, Álvarez emphasized that this step is crucial for the election’s legitimacy and called for independent verification of the results.

Álvarez expressed the Dominican Republic’s deep concern over the conflict arising during the vote counting process in Venezuela’s recent election. He highlighted that while each state has sovereignty over its democratic processes and foreign relations, these sovereignties should be interpreted in harmony for the common good.

He also noted that international legal standards exist to assess a government’s legitimacy and stressed that the international community can condition its recognition of a government on adherence to electoral transparency. He urged the OAS Permanent Council to take decisive action, lamenting that a useful resolution on the issue had not been adopted due to a lack of votes. Ambassador Mayerlin Cordero, the Dominican Republic’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, attended the meeting in person.