Venezuela's Supreme Court proclaims Maduro's victory and imposes ban on publishing election records

The Court associated with Chavismo released a ruling after an alleged audit of the elections, stating that the decision is irreversible. In response, Venezuela's opposition coalition announced that it will not recognize any court decision.

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Experts from the Supreme Court of Venezuela validating election minutes - Photo Reproduction / Venezuelan government TV / Reuters

The Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ), the country's highest judicial body, announced this Thursday (22) the recognition of Nicolás Maduro's victory in the elections held on July 28. The decision also prohibited the publication of electoral records and accused opposition candidate Edmundo González of disrespecting justice, which could result in sanctions against him.

With this sentence, the Court, often seen as an ally of Chavismo in the Judiciary, ratified the result released by the National Electoral Council (CNE) the day after the election. The CNE, the body responsible for electoral justice in the country, is also led by an ally of Maduro. At the time, the CNE declared Maduro as the winner.

Context of the Decision

The measure of TSJ It occurs amid an environment of widespread distrust towards the Venezuelan electoral system. Several opposition leaders denounced irregularities, alleging that the elections were marked by fraud, intimidation and manipulation of results. In a letter addressed to United States President Joe Biden, 30 former heads of state allege that Nicolás Maduro is trying to buy time and benefits from control over Venezuelan authorities to remain in power.

The group also took a stance against holding new elections in the country. The document was signed on Friday (16) by members of the Ideia group, which includes former presidents Álvaro Uribe (Colombia), Guillermo Lasso (Ecuador) and Mauritius Macri (Argentina). For its part, Maduro's government insists that the process was "free, fair and transparent", accusing the opposition of trying to destabilize the country. The sentence announced this Thursday is the conclusion of an audit allegedly carried out by the Supreme Court based on Venezuela's electoral records.

These minutes record the votes and results at each polling place and were requested by Nicolás Maduro himself, after questions from the opposition, the UN and several governments about the proclamation of the Venezuelan president's victory, which occurred without the publication of these minutes. To date, the minutes have not been released or published by the court, which determined, in the same sentence, that "all electoral material (including electoral minutes) will be under the control of the Supreme Court". The president of the court declared that the decision is irrevocable, that is, it does not allow appeals. According to the judges, those who will answer the sentence will not be able to participate in the next elections.

"The electoral material evaluated is unquestionably certified, and the results of the presidential election on July 28 released by the National Electoral Council, in which Nicolás Maduro was elected president of the republic, are validated", says the ruling.

The judges stated that the opposition candidate, Edmundo González, disrespected justice by not attending the hearings called by the court, and that he will be subject to sanctions for this failure. The judge Caryslia Rodríguez, responsible for reading the sentence, did not specify what sanctions will be applied to González. The oppositionist claimed that he did not receive formal notification of the hearings and feared that he would be arrested when appearing in court.

Rodríguez also mentioned that the judges confirmed the occurrence of a cyber attack on the system that records the votes of the electoral court, which, according to the court, caused a delay in the release of the electoral records. Two weeks ago, the Carter Center, a North American institute invited as an observer of the Venezuelan elections, stated that, after inspecting the voting system, it found no signs of a hacker attack.

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The opposition questioned the court's decision. Edmundo González, the opposition candidate, shared on his social networks a montage with the word "null" over a sentence from the TSJ. “Sovereignty resides non-transferable in the people,” he said. The previous day (21), Venezuela's opposition coalition had announced that it will not recognize any decision by the country's Supreme Court related to the results of the election held on July 28. The opposition claims that "the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice does not have the authority to assume the functions and competencies of the electoral body, as this is not within its competence."

Based on quick counts and independent counting of the minutes, González and the opposition coalition declared themselves winners of the elections. The international community and observers highlighted the lack of transparency in the investigation process in Venezuela and pressured the Nicolás Maduro regime to officially release the minutes. Before Thursday's decision, the UN Human Rights Council had declared that there was a "lack of independence and impartiality of both institutions (TSJ and CNE)".

The body warned about the excessive influence of Maduro and Diosdado Cabello, a central figure in Chavismo, in the TSJ. Furthermore, it highlights that the president of the court is a member of Maduro's party, and that the current president of the CNE is also a former member of the same capitol. Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was barred from running for president and supported González, also made a statement before the court's announcement: "TSJ: try harder", he posted on the social network X.

"The country and the world know his partiality [of the TSJ] and, by extension, their inability to resolve the conflict; your decision only will aggravate the crisis", wrote González, on the same network.

The Electoral Minutes

Last Monday, magistrates from the Supreme Court of Venezuela, accompanied by international experts and observers, visited the facilities of the National Electoral Council (CNE) in Caracas to begin the supposed validation of the voting records of the July 28 presidential elections. The Venezuelan opposition stated on a social network that the unit's parties were not informed about the expertise and were not present at the place where the process was being carried out. According to the Reuters news agency, the authorities were taken to the management area of ​​the Totalization Center, where, with the support of CNE technicians, they began checking the electoral records against digital records, to confirm the accuracy of the results. results.

The process was recorded by Venezuelan government TV and began one day after the opposition and its supporters gathered in several cities across the country to demand recognition of, according to them, their candidate's significant victory in the election. A day after the vote, the National Electoral Council (CNE), the country's electoral authority, announced that President Nicolás Maduro secured his third term with just under 52% of the vote. The Supreme Court, which the opposition considers an arm of Chavismo, said it was still verifying the results, but highlighted that the opposition had not presented proof of its counts.