On December 6, the illegitimate regime of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela staged a political farce intended to look like legislative elections.
“Fortunately, few were fooled,” declared Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement. The United States, along with dozens of other democracies around the world, condemns this charade which failed to meet any minimum standard of credibility.
“Maduro brazenly rigged these elections in his favor through the illegal seizure of political parties’ names and ballot logos, manipulation of the process by his loyalist electoral council, violence and intimidation, and other undemocratic tactics,” said Secretary Pompeo. Moreover, some 60 countries and organizations around the world, including the United States, the European Union, the Organization of American States, the Lima Group, and the International Contact Group do not accept the election results as legitimate.
“This farce,” said Secretary Pompeo, “was nothing more than an attempt to install a complicit, puppet National Assembly, beholden only to Maduro, while destroying the country’s only remaining democratic institution truly representative of the Venezuelan people.”
This electoral sham comes as the illegitimate Maduro regime systematically assassinates, tortures, and imprisons its opponents, which the United Nations, Organization of American States, and other independent observers have laid bare in recent reports. In advance of the fraudulent elections, the regime also stepped up its harassment of humanitarian workers and threatened food distribution programs. “Such a brutal and callous regime is incapable of holding free and fair elections,” declared Secretary Pompeo.
The United States will continue to recognize Interim President Juan Guaidó and the legitimate National Assembly. The international community cannot allow Maduro, who is in power because he stole the 2018 election, to gain from stealing a second election.
The United States urges all countries committed to democracy to join in condemning the December 6 election farce and supporting the legitimate National Assembly and Interim President moving forward. Neither Maduro nor a fraudulently elected National Assembly will represent the legitimate voice of the Venezuelan people. It can only be expressed through free and fair presidential elections.
