Guyana votes to reject Venezuela’s Parliamentary Elections

…after previously abstaining on the subject of the Venezuelan elections

Guyana has voted to reject the Parliamentary Elections of Venezuela held on December 6, 2020 along with several other member countries of the Organisation of American States’ (OAS) Permanent Council.

This is a shift from the country’s previous position in November 2020 when it voted to abstain when a resolution condemning the then upcoming elections was put to a vote. The country also previously abstained when a resolution — prior to the aforementioned two — called for free and fair elections in the neighbouring country.

On Wednesday, the OAS Permanent Council met to analyze the political situation in Venezuela. Presented with the resolution “Rejection of the Parliamentary Elections held on December 6 in Venezuela”, in total, there were 21 votes in favor, two against, five abstentions and six absent which led to the approval of the resolution.

Countries voting in favor of rejection included Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, United States of America, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia, Uruguay, Bahamas, Brazil and Venezuela.

Countries voting against included Mexico and Bolivia. Countries absent included Dominica, Grenada, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, and countries voting to abstain were Saint Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Argentina, Barbados, Belize and Brazil.

On December 6, 2020, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his allies won the country’s Parliamentary Elections with over 67 per cent of the votes cast. However, the election, according to the OAS, had no credible international observers and was not conducted freely or fairly.

The resolution highlights the elections as “fraudulent” held by the illegitimate Nicolás Maduro regime and aimed only eliminating the remaining legitimate and democratic institutions in the country.

“Against this backdrop, we are seriously concerned with the process of destroying democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela worsening the political, economic, social, humanitarian, human rights and security crisis in the country,” Permanent Representative of Brazil to the OAS, Fernando Simas Magalhães said.

Since Guyana announced its oil find in 2015, the neighbouring Spanish-speaking country has resurfaced its claim to Guyana’s Essequibo Region and Guyana has since resorted to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to settle its ownership based on the 1889 Arbitral Award.

The US, however, has its own contention with Venezuela as it recognises Opposition Leader, Juan Guaido as “interim president” and considers the Venezuelan National Assembly, which he currently leads, to be the only legitimate federal institution.

Its position is that the Maduro regime’s irresponsible intervention in the economy has facilitated widespread corruption and stoked hyperinflation leading to negative economic growth and a humanitarian crisis.