Theformer presidents, who are part of the Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas (IDEA), added that it is now up to these governments “to take a clear and definitive position in the face of the tyranny [of Venezuelan President],” Nicolás Maduro, whose re-election is contested by the opposition, which claims victory.

The former leaders stressed that, although this delay is noted, the “wave of repression and kidnappings of members of the democratic forces, as well as the widespread and systematic violations of human rights against the people of Venezuela, continue in the Latin American country.”

At the same time, they welcomed the statements of the foreign ministers of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia on the duty of the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela to transparently show the results of the July 28 presidential elections.

They pointed out that the foreign ministers of these countries stated that “the mandate to make electoral registers transparent is a duty that belongs to the electoral power and must be verified in an impartial instance” and not by the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela.

Nicolás Maduro, who the CNE declared the winner with 51% of the votes over his opponent Edmundo González Urrutia, last week tasked the highest Venezuelan judicial body with reviewing the electoral process.

The former presidents also highlighted a preview of the conclusions of the Carter Center, a global center for the defense of human rights, democracy and public health, which sent a technical mission to observe the process and pointed out that there is no evidence of cybercrime in the electoral system, as reported by the Venezuelan electoral authorities.

They confirmed Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner.

On the contrary, this center “analyzed the figures available together with other organizations and universities” and confirmed Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner, the former leaders highlighted, recalling that a report by the Organization of American States (OAS) has already reached the same conclusion.

The declaration is signed, among others, by former Costa Rican presidents Oscar Arias, Carlos Alvarado, Rafael Ángel Calderón, Laura Chinchilla, José María Figueres, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez and Luis Guillermo Solís, José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy, from Espanha, Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón from Mexico, Iván Duque, Andrés Pastrana and Álvaro Uribe, from Colômbia and Mauricio Macri from Argentina.

Venezuela, a country that has a significant community of Portuguese and Portuguese descendants, held presidential elections on July 28, after which the National Electoral Council (CNE) awarded the victory to Maduro with just over 51% of the votes, while the opposition claims that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained almost 70% of the votes.

The Venezuelan opposition and several countries in the international community have denounced electoral fraud and demanded that the voting minutes be presented for independent verification, which the CNE says is unfeasible due to a “cyberattack” of which it was allegedly targeted.

The election results have been contested in the streets, with demonstrations repressed by security forces, with the registration of about two thousand arrests and more than two dozen fatalities.