International
The OAS convenes an extraordinary meeting to address the electoral process in Venezuela
The Organization of American States (OAS), based in Washington, convened an extraordinary meeting to discuss the results of the elections in Venezuela, questioned by the Venezuelan opposition and several countries in the region.
The session of the Permanent Council, which will take place on Wednesday, was convened at the request of twelve member countries, including all the Latin American governments that the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, ordered today to withdraw their diplomatic staff in Caracas.
So far, the organization has not pronounced on the elections, amid the rejection by the international community and the Venezuelan opposition on the results delivered by the National Electoral Council (CNE) that gave victory today to the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro.
Hours earlier, the governments of Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic expressed their deep concern about the development of the presidential elections in Venezuela and called for an urgent meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS).
In a joint statement, the countries demand the complete review of the electoral results and emphasize the need for the presence of independent electoral observers to ensure respect for the will of the Venezuelan people, who participated massively and peacefully in the elections.
“The vote count must be transparent and the results should not cast doubt,” the statement says.
Faced with the situation, the governments of these countries announced that they will request an urgent meeting of the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) with the aim of issuing a resolution that safeguards the popular will, framed in the Democratic Charter and the fundamental principles of democracy in the region.
With this call to the OAS, the aforementioned countries seek to ensure that democratic values are respected and a fair and transparent electoral process is guaranteed in Venezuela. The signatories consider the intervention of the OAS to resolve the situation and maintain democratic stability in the region to be crucial.
The joint statement reflects the growing international concern about the situation in Venezuela and the determination of these governments to take concrete measures to ensure that the will of the Venezuelan people is respected and that democratic principles prevail.
In its first report, the National Electoral Council (CNE) gave the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, as the winner with 51.20% of the votes, compared to 44.20% of the opponent Edmundo González Urrutia, with 80% counted.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado said that the “new president-elect” is the candidate of the Democratic United Platform (PUD) block, since, she said, with more than 40% of the minutes transmitted by the electoral body, she obtained 70% of the votes, while Maduro, 30%.
For its part, the Government of Peru expelled the Venezuelan diplomats accredited in Peru and gave them a maximum period of 72 hours to leave the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that this measure was ordered by the Peruvian Foreign Minister, Javier González-Olaechea, “due to the serious and arbitrary decisions taken today by the Venezuelan regime.”
He added that González-Olaechea “has instructed that the accredited Venezuelan diplomatic functions in Peru be notified that they must leave the country within no more than 72 hours.”
The decision was announced hours after the Government of Venezuela demanded from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay “the immediate withdrawal of their representatives in Venezuelan territory,” in rejection of their “interrenistic actions and statements” about Sunday’s presidential elections.
The Executive of Nicolás Maduro also indicated in a statement that he has decided to “withdraw all diplomatic personnel from the missions” in these seven Latin American countries.
This was due to what he considered “the interference actions and statements of a group of right-wing governments, subordinate to Washington and openly committed to the most sordid ideological postulates of international fascism, (…) that pretend to ignore the electoral results.”
On Monday, the Governments of Uruguay, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and the Dominican Republic expressed their deep concern about the development of the elections in Venezuela, for which they demanded the complete review of the results and called for an urgent meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS).
The National Electoral Council (CNE) officially proclaimed Maduro as the winner on Monday, after he announced on Sunday night that he obtained 51.2% of the votes, the same result that he gave when 80% of the minutes had been counted and in the absence of more than two million votes to count.
For his part, the candidate of the majority opposition, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained 44.2% of the votes, according to the first and only public report of the CNE, which did not specify which candidates have gone to the 2,394,268 votes that were not reported.
International
Seven bodies found with signs of torture in Sinaloa
Mexican authorities discovered seven lifeless bodies on Wednesday, showing clear signs of torture, in the rural area of Culiacán, Sinaloa, just one day after the same number of bodies was found in several municipalities in the western state of Mexico.
Six of these seven victims were found along the side of the highway that connects Culiacán to Mazatlán, near Laguna de Canachi, according to local media reports, which also noted that messages addressed to a criminal group were found near the bodies.
This brings the total number of violent deaths in the region to seven within just 24 hours. On Tuesday, authorities reported more victims found in the municipalities of Culiacán, Elota, and Mazatlán.
Among the victims identified was a local cattle rancher named Ramón Velázquez Ontiveros, as well as a police officer from Mazatlán, who was killed by a motorcyclist outside his home in San Marcos.
International
Málaga paralyzed by new storm as torrential rains hit Spain
Thousands of people were evacuated and trains were suspended as torrential rains once again struck Spain on Wednesday, following the devastating floods that killed at least 223 people two weeks ago, most of them in the Valencia region.
The national meteorological agency (Aemet) issued a maximum, red-level alert for the Andalusian province of Málaga in the south, and for Tarragona in the northeast, due to the new DANA (isolated depression at high levels), also known as a cold drop.
The city of Málaga appeared to be the hardest hit by the rains, with more than 3,000 people evacuated from 1,000 homes near rivers, flooded streets, and the suspension of urban transport and train services to Madrid.
“Today Málaga is paralyzed,” said Andalusia’s regional president, Juan Manuel Moreno, to reporters. “I know it is a problem for citizens not being able to take their children to school or go to work, but after what we saw in Valencia, we need to ‘prevent’ and minimize the impact in terms of loss of life,” he added.
The storm also led to the postponement of a match between Spain and Poland in the Billie Jean King Cup women’s tennis competition, which was scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Málaga.
International
Hezbollah launches explosive drone strike on Israel’s defense headquarters
The Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah claimed on Wednesday that it launched an attack with explosive drones against the Israeli army’s headquarters in Tel Aviv.
The Iran-backed organization reported in a statement that it had carried out “an aerial attack with a squadron of explosive drones” targeting the site that houses Israel’s main defense institutions.
Hezbollah later stated that it also fired a barrage of rockets at the Glilot military intelligence base in the suburbs of Tel Aviv.
The Israeli military indicated that “sirens sounded in several areas of northern and central Israel following the launch of projectiles from Lebanon.”
It later clarified that “five projectiles were identified over the territory, and some were intercepted.”
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