The Venezuelan Episcopate spoke out in the face of the political crisis generated after the presidential elections on July 28, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Nicolás Maduro the winner, amid numerous questions regarding the legitimacy of the result.
“Let us remain firm in hope. We must make our thoughts and just demands with the peaceful attitudes, respect and tolerance that have reigned until now,” expressed the presidency of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference through a message. spread on social networks.
Receive the main news from ACI Prensa by WhatsApp and Telegram
It is increasingly difficult to see Catholic news on social media. Subscribe to our free channels today:
This July 29, spontaneous protests broke out in various cities of the country that, according to reports on social networkshave even been repressed by paramilitary groups using firearms.
The bishops assured to closely follow the development of events and expressed to all Venezuelans their “closeness and willingness to support” in these moments of concern that the nation is going through.
“We join our voices with those of all those inside and outside Venezuela who demand a process of verification of the scrutiny records, in which all the political actors involved actively and fully participate,” they commented.
The latest events in Venezuela
Today the CNE definitively proclaimed Nicolás Maduro as the new elected president of Venezuela, without yet having all the votes counted and without publishing the electoral records of the country’s voting stations, which would allow the result offered by the electoral entity to be audited.
Given this situation, María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia claimed to have 73.2% of the electoral records in their possession, which will be published on a website in the next few hours.
Machado yesterday ignored the CNE bulletin and assured that the true elected president of Venezuela is González Urrutia, who would have 6,275,182 votes so far, while Maduro would only reach 2,259,256 votes.
In addition, the opposition leader asked Venezuelans to take to the streets tomorrow, in citizen assemblies, peacefully “but very firmly” to defend the legitimate result of the elections.
Andres Henriquez
I have been a writer for ACI Prensa and a correspondent for EWTN since 2023. Since then, I have covered events in the Catholic Church in Venezuela and Latin America. I have more than 5 years of experience in bilingual media. Additionally, in Venezuela I have worked with non-governmental organizations in favor of freedom and respect for human rights in the country. I have been a member of the Regnum Christi Federation since 2014.