ST VINCENT and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves has urged Caricom leaders to formally recognise the re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in that country's presidential elections held on July 28.

Gonsalves made this call on July 29 in an interview in Grenada where the 47th regular meeting of the Caricom heads of government is taking place.

A CNN report on July 29 said Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) issued a statement that said with 80 per cent of the votes counted, Maduro has claimed 51 per cent of those votes, beating his opponent, Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who received 44 per cent.

The report also said Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado is disputing these results. She claimed that Gonzalez received 70 per cent of the vote while Maduro received 30 per cent.

A Reuters report said there was a subdued reaction in many towns and cities in Venezeula, with most of their streets being empty. An AP report said that many Venezuelans, incensed at the results, engaged in noisy protests on July 29, beating pots and pans with spoons to make their displeasure known.

In an interview with the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), Gonsalves said, "Well, I’ve already called the Venezuelan government to congratulate them on the victory of Nicolas Maduro.” Gonsalves hoped Caricom will issue a formal statement congratulating Maduro on his re-election.

"He’s an important partner and he’s important for peace and security in our region, including peace and security on the border with Guyana."

Guyana and Venezuela have a long running border dispute with respect to the former's Essequibo region. Both countries are awaiting a ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the matter.

Gonsalves said he was satisfied that, based on reports from the Vincentian ambassador in Caracas and other personnel, that the election was fair.

He believes the reason why some countries are taking different positions with respect to the result was a case of "politics taking precedence in some quarters."

"There may be some countries which may wish to wait and see. I don’t know but that certainly will arise sometime today, whether in this morning session or in the caucus this afternoon. But I would like to see Caricom make a statement congratulating Maduro on his re-election to the presidency," Gonsalves said.

Some Caricom leaders weigh-in

Some Caricom leaders offered their views on the election in subsequent interviews with the Caribbean News Agency (CANA).

Guyana President Dr Mohammed Irfaan Ali said an election has a number of components, including the operations and arrangement before the polls.

He identified other components would include “the elections itself on election day and of course, the mechanisms after the election, the mechanisms to ensure that the votes are counted” and that “there is a credible process of verification”.

Ali said, “So those are all competence of the election. We are not pronouncing, we canno

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