The president of Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, insists the Dominican government is responsible for the suspension of the municipal election. In a recent statement, he said he maintains his original statement that the Dominican government canceled the election “because they knew they were going to lose.”
“The people of the Dominican Republic were upset with me, because of what I said. I don’t understand. I reiterate that, the only ones to blame are those who are governing the country at this time. Or whose fault is that? Venezuela’s, or the Diosdado who declared it,” he emphasized.
He remarked that if the cancelation had happened in Venezuela, this would have been on all the front pages of the newspapers worldwide with headlines saying: “Dictator suspended elections”.
“The truth is that the Dominican government ordered for the election to be suspended because it was going to lose, that is the reality. Then they hide, and they say that ‘Diosdado is getting into the internal affairs of the Dominican Republic'”.
He added that people are not protesting in the streets because of what he said, nor for Venezuela, but against the government and the Central Electoral Board because there was no election. “Blame me if you want.”
He said that some countries should remember when “Hugo Chávez held out his hand to them”. “You go to the Dominican Republic and ask about Hugo Chavez and they applaud him, because the people are grateful, that’s what governments forget,” he concluded.
Dominican foreign minister Miguel Vargas Maldonado said the statements by Cabello were “unfriendly, disrespectful, and unfortunate.” “In electoral matters and in all democracy matters, Cabello Rondón lacks any quality to give lessons to Dominicans,” said Vargas.
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Diario Libre
Diario Libre
Listin Diario
24 February 2020