08/16/2024 | Press release | Archived content
We, the undersigned countries, gathered in Santo Domingo de Guzmán, make a strong appeal for sanity in Venezuela. At this crucial moment for Venezuela and the region, all social and political actors must exercise the utmost restraint in their public actions.
Acceptance and respect for the dignity and integrity of all people are the essential principles on which our nations live together. We urge respect for democratic principles, as well as for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Venezuelans and, in particular, for the right to demonstrate peacefully and to exercise freedom of expression. We see with concern that this is not the current reality in Venezuela. Reports of arbitrary detentions of Venezuelans without due process are alarming and we call for their immediate release.
We express our profound rejection of the repression of demonstrators and the violence that has cost the lives of many Venezuelans in the post-election context. We urgently call on the Venezuelan authorities to put an end to the violence and release all those who have been detained, including representatives of the opposition.
We further request that the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights be allowed to return to Venezuela as a matter of urgency, and we call on Venezuela to guarantee adequate conditions for it to fully carry out its mandate.
We also demand that Venezuela, as a State party to the Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum of 1954, comply with its provisions and issue the safe-conducts that will allow the six asylum seekers who remain in the official residence of the Argentine Republic to safely leave Venezuelan territory.
We take note of the preliminary report of the UN Panel of Experts on the Venezuelan presidential elections, which notes that the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) has not yet presented the electoral records to support the veracity of the results announced on 2 August. We also note that a digital version of more than 80% of the polling station reports has been published, showing a different result to the one published by the CNE.
We therefore call for the immediate publication of all original tally sheets and the impartial and independent verification of these results, preferably by an international entity, to ensure respect for the will of the Venezuelan people as expressed at the ballot box. Any delay in this happening calls into question the results officially published on 2 August 2024.
Our nations have used dialogue and understanding to resolve serious conflicts in the past. Today, more than ever, Venezuela must honour that legacy in order to recover peaceful coexistence, public security and political stability which, according to reports by the UN Human Rights Council's Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, are being threatened by Venezuela's own security authorities.
The time calls for a broad, inclusive and good-faith dialogue to facilitate a political settlement that will foster national reconciliation, peace, public security and democracy in Venezuela.
We pledge to support all efforts in this direction, always advocating a genuinely Venezuelan solution in which democracy, justice, peace and security prevail.
Signatory countries in alphabetical order: Republic of Argentina; Canada; Republic of Chile; Republic of Costa Rica; Czechia; Dominican Republic; Republic of Ecuador; European Union; Republic of Guatemala; Cooperative Republic of Guyana; Italian Republic; Kingdom of Morocco; Kingdom of the Netherlands; Republic of Panama; Republic of Paraguay; Republic of Peru; Portuguese Republic; Kingdom of Spain; Republic of Suriname; United Kingdom; United States of America; Republic of Uruguay.
Non official translation