RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Venezuela’s authoritarian government under President Nicolás Maduro has once again invited the European Union and also the United Nations as “international observers and monitors” of the controversial parliamentary elections planned for December. Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on Wednesday shared on Twitter a letter sent to UN Secretary General António Guterres and EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Josep Borrell. The letter described the comprehensive safeguards for the parliamentary elections.
The EU reacted very cautiously when invited a few weeks ago and said that the conditions for a transparent election process were not in place. However, on Monday, August 31st, Maduro pardoned 110 members of the opposition, several dozen of whom were released on Wednesday, according to a report in the Venezuelan newspaper “El Nacional”. The Venezuelan government described the pardons as a step toward national reconciliation and an incentive to take part in the parliamentary elections.
Experts regard this as an attempt to legitimize the controversial impending election. Over 25 opposition parties in the deeply-divided country refused to take part in the last election in July, calling it a “fraud”. The National Electoral Council, close to Maduro, scheduled the December parliamentary elections despite the coronavirus crisis. Parliament is the only state institution still controlled by the opposition. However, Maduro has long stripped it of all powers and transferred them to a newly-created constitutional assembly loyal to his government.