Venezuela: Ex-Candidate Bertucci Recognizes Electoral Results

The former presidential candidate of Hope for Change party, Javier Bertucci, recognized Monday the results of the Venezuelan presidential elections that took place Sunday, in which President Nicolas Maduro was reelected with over 6.19 million votes.

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“I accept the results of the re-elected government, but under which circumstances did he win? I denounce the strategy implemented under bribery and manipulation of the red points (voter registration stations for the PSUV),” Bertucci said via Twitter.

The president of the Council of Electoral Experts of Latin America (Ceela), Nicanor Moscoso, said Monday that the results must be recognized because they represent the popular will expressed by the people.

International observer Eugenio Chicas said the Venezuelan electoral system was robust and emphasized that the elections were “very transparent and... met international standards.”

Regarding the red points of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Ceela explained that they are allowed under the country’s laws and that in countries like El Salvador and the Dominican Republic these stations are also implemented by political organizations.

Henri Falcon, who was defeated by Maduro, argued that the red points amount to vote buying and has refused to acknowledge the results despite participating in a series of audits to the electoral system prior to the election.

The faction of the opposition known as the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), which called for a boycott of the May 20 elections, have announced they “will continue to fight for free and transparent elections for the last trimester of the year.”

Before the dialogue between the Venezuelan opposition and the government in the Dominican Republic, presidential elections were scheduled for the last trimester of 2018. Early elections was a demand by the MUD.