Uruguay considers holding free elections in Venezuela “unviable” and Lacalle Pou has summoned its ambassador to Caracas for consultations.
(From Montevideo, Uruguay) – The Uruguayan government has taken another step in its position on the political situation in the country Venezuela. After the president Louis Lacalle Po His Foreign Minister stressed that the elections scheduled for this year will not be free or democratic Omar PaganiniHe announced that he had summoned the country's ambassador to Venezuela for consultations. Iber da RosaTo submit a report on the situation in the country.
“We have decided to recall our ambassador to Venezuela for consultations to inform him of the disturbing events that will occur Holding free, democratic and competitive elections in that country is not possible“Paganini wrote on the social network X, praising President Lacalle Pou.
The government intends that da Rosa will present in the coming days in Montevideo a A detailed report on the political situation in Venezuelamentioned The local newspaper Country. This text will serve as an input for the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs to determine a position on the validity of the electoral elections scheduled to be held this year.
When consulted by journalists, Paganini avoided announcing the position that the Uruguayan government would take. But the act of summoning a diplomatic representative in another country for consultation is one of the strongest signs of diplomacy. This is what the government wanted to convey:The fact that the call for shura is a sign of disagreement– said Paganini.
The Uruguayan Foreign Minister expressed his regret that the “democratic process” that Venezuela appears to be going through has become “in very great doubt,” in his view, after the main opposition candidate, Maria Corina Machado, was excluded from the competition.
“We have over 20 years of increasingly isolated and authoritarian government“, identified by Paganini. “The spaces designated for citizen participation have been closed, and now that the opportunity has arisen, we are particularly concerned,” he added.
Da Rosa was appointed Uruguay's ambassador to Venezuela last year after eight years of absence from Uruguay's role in the country. The official will arrive in Uruguay, submit his report, and then return to Caracas. The diplomat – the former mayor of Tacuarembo Province in Uruguay – will leave his post in the first half of the year to devote himself to the campaign for the presidential elections that will be held this year in Uruguay.
At the beginning of February, when journalists consulted with him, President Lacalle Pou He defined the government's position on Venezuela.
“It is clear that we are not facing free and democratic elections“The president said after Corinna Machado was excluded.
Lacalle Pou noted that he said more than once what was happening with the Venezuelan regime when he was opposition leader in Uruguay. When he assumed the government, he also said this to the president of that country, Nicolas Maduro.
“We are not trying to have a point of view based on whether we like the government more or less,” Lacalle Pou declared. For him, Macho's exclusion shows that “there is no kind of will” for the elections to be transparent.
On January 26, Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice confirmed that the opposition presidential candidate was suffering from a 15-year disqualification, preventing her from competing in the second term elections. After the decision, the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement expressing its “deep concern” about this situation.
The text issued by the Uruguayan government stated: “Uruguay notes with great concern this judicial debarment of political opponents from holding elective or public office, as it directly threatens the holding of free, democratic and competitive elections.”
in uruguay, Demonstrations also took place after Corinna Machado was excluded In which some of the pre-candidates for this year's presidential elections were present.