In an unprecedented moment during his second term inaugural, President Luis Abinader dedicated several pages of his speech to demand that the Maduro regime respect the democratic results of the past elections in Venezuela.
During the inaugural, 22 visiting countries, including Spain, the United States, Canada and Morocco, together with the representation of the European Union (27 countries) would later sign the Declaration of Santo Domingo. Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez read the Joint Declaration.
The joint declaration makes a firm call for good sense and sanity in Venezuela, and demands an end to the repression of protests, demands the release of prisoners and asks for the publication of the vote tallies of the elections of 28 July 2024.
As reported, leadership in preparing the document came from the Dominican government and the State Secretary for Ibero-America Susana Sumelzo of Spain who accompanied King Felipe VI as part of the mission of Spain to the inaugural.
In addition to the European Union, the declaration was signed by 21 countries: the United States, Argentina, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, Guatemala, Guyana, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, the Dominican Republic, Suriname and Uruguay.
The signatories urge “respect for democratic principles, as well as for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Venezuelans and, in particular, for the right to demonstrate peacefully and to exercise freedom of expression.” They also express their “profound rejection” of the repression and violence ‘that have cost the lives of many Venezuelans’ and express their alarm at “reports of arbitrary detentions without due process” and call for the release of the detainees.
The statement also calls for “the urgent return of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to Venezuela,” and asks the Venezuelan government to ensure “adequate conditions for it to fully carry out its mandate.”
Regarding the six people who remain refugees in the official residence of the Argentinean ambassador, the 21 signatories remind the Maduro government that Venezuela is a State party to the 1954 Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum and, therefore, ‘must comply with its precepts and issue the safe-conducts that allow the six asylum seekers to “withdraw safely from Venezuelan territory”.
They also recall that the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) has not yet presented the electoral records that support the veracity of the results announced on 2 August 2024, as stated in a preliminary report by the United Nations Panel of Experts on the Venezuelan presidential elections, and request their immediate publication.
“The moment calls for a comprehensive, inclusive and good faith dialogue to facilitate a political settlement that will foster national reconciliation, peace, public security and democracy in Venezuela,” the statement concludes.
The Joint Declaration of Santo Domingo would be followed on the same 16 August 2024 by the Organization of American States’ resolution, CP/RES. 1261 (2508/24). The OAS resolution called: “To urge the National Electoral Council of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to: (a) expeditiously publish the presidential election records, including the voting results at the level of each polling station, and (b) respect the fundamental principle of popular sovereignty through an impartial verification of the results that ensures the transparency, credibility, and legitimacy of the electoral process.“
The Dominican Republic is a member of the coalition, Alliance for Development in Democracy, together with the governments of Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador.
Read more in Spanish:
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
US OAS Mission
The Diplomat in Spain
Diario Libre
Presidential 16 August 2024 speech
DR1 News
19 August 2024