Canada Says It Won’t Accept Venezuela’s Election Results As Maduro Looks Set To Hold On To Power

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon, Dec. 7, 2020: Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs last night said it won’t recognize Sunday’s results on Venezuela’s election as President Nicolas Maduro looks set to retake the last state institution not in the hands of the ruling Socialist Party, the National Assembly.

Foreign Affairs Minister, Francois Phillipe Champagne, issued a statement that said “Canada does not recognize the results of Venezuela’s Dec. 6th electoral process because the process did not meet the minimum conditions for a free and fair exercise of democracy.”

The statement came before the results were announced and as the opposition boycotted the vote to choose a new congress.

Members of the new congress will have few tools to improve the lives of Venezuelans whose monthly salaries rarely cover the cost of a day’s groceries, nor will their election improve Maduro’s reputation among Western nations for mismanagement and undermining of human rights.

It could, however, provide legitimacy for Maduro to offer investment deals to the few companies around the world willing to risk running afoul of Washington’s sanctions for access to the world’s largest oil reserves.

The election closes a cycle that began in 2015 when a euphoric opposition celebrated winning congress by a landslide, only to see their legislative powers swept aside by pro-government courts and the creation in 2017 of an all-powerful body known as the National Constituent Assembly.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido, head of the current congress, called on Venezuelans to skip the vote and participate in a Dec. 12th consultation that will ask citizens if they reject Sunday’s vote and whether they want a change of government.

But some government opponents chose not to adhere to the boycott, arguing the vote was their only tool to enact change.

Guaido has been recognized by more than 50 countries including the United States as Venezuela’s legitimate interim president, after most Western nations disavowed Maduro’s 2018 re-election as fraudulent.

Those countries are expected to continue their recognition of Guaido, though the opposition is discussing proposals that could limit the size of his interim government and reduce the number of ambassadors.

The legislature on Saturday approved a resolution condemning Sunday’s “event” as fraudulent and unconstitutional, adding it “violates Venezuelans’ right to hold free, transparent and fair elections.”

Despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s campaign of sanctions and diplomatic pressure, Maduro has remained in power, backed by the military and supported by Russia, Cuba, China and Iran.

Maduro has promised a “special prize” for the communities with the highest turnout.

(Reuters News Contributed To This Story.)