Human Rights Watch Friday called on Latin America, the United States and Europe to take action to protect the right to vote in Venezuela in the lead-up to the country’s presidential election Sunday, amidst numerous reports of arbitrary disqualifications of opposition candidates, arbitrary arrests and restrictions to civic space.
In June 2023, former opposition party candidate María Corina Machado was barred from running, a decision that the Venezuelan Supreme Court upheld in January 2024 while also banning fellow opposition leader Henrique Capriles.
According to the NGO Foro Penal, as of 26 July 2024, 149 people have been arbitrarily arrested, 135 of which have been connected with Machado’s opposition party, Vente. President of Foro Penal Alfredo Romero has said that the arbitrary arrests are intended to intimidate opposition supporters and that political repression has been a key source of the sustainability of President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
Juanita Goebertus, Americas Director at Human Rights Watch, said that “[w]hilst the election in Venezuela will hardly be free or fair, Venezuelans have their best chance in over a decade to elect their government, and the international community should have their back as they do”.
Parliamentarians and former presidents invited by Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia and party leader Machado have been denied entry into Venezuela. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox tweeted on Friday that the Venezuelan government had banned all Copa Airlines flights from Panama City to Caracas. Likewise Columbian Senator Angélica Lozano Correa announced that she had been immediately deported upon arriving in Venezuela.
Land border crossings between Venezuela and Columbia were also closed on Friday until 29 July 2024 under a joint resolution of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Peace. The resolution additionally prohibited the sale and distribution of alcohol, the carrying of weapons and meetings, gatherings or public demonstrations which may affect the development of the normal electoral process.
According to Human Rights Watch:
Foreign governments should follow the election closely and publicly condemn any artificial steps to undermine the right to vote, including further arbitrary arrests and disqualifications, improper changes to ballots, and arbitrary government intervention in the function of opposition political parties.
According to local media, there have already been allegations of irregularities in the installation of voting centers, with La Prensa reporting that the installation of voting tables was brought forward and went ahead without the presence of trained and legally accredited people.