WHERE DOES CARICOM’S STAND ON VENEZUELA ELECTION?

THE Caribbean region is looking on anxiously at the response of its leaders to the controversial Venezuelan presidential election.

Caricom leaders, currently meeting in Grenada, have not yet issued a formal statement despite firm responses from several hemispheric and international principals.

There have been various statements expressing concerns about the victory being claimed by incumbent President Nicolas Maduro following last Sunday’s poll.

 Statements have come from presidents of Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Guatemala and Costa Rica.

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced “serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people.”

Blinken stressed the need for a fair and transparent system of counting the votes.

Senior European Union official, Josep Fontelles, said: “Ensuring full transparency in the electoral process, including detailed counting of votes and access to voting records at polling stations, is vital.”

The United Kingdom urged its citizens planning to travel to Venezuela to “stay home if possible.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the UK “does not accept the legitimacy of the current administration…”

Russia, China, Cuba, Bolivia and Honduras congratulated Maduro.

Both Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia are claiming victory.

The opposition said there were major irregularities in the election.

The poll selects a president to lead Venezuela for six years, beginning next January.

Trinidad and Tobago signed a major natural gas exploration contract with the Maduro administration last Wednesday.

There are thousands of exiled Venezuelans in several Caricom territories.