President Maduro guarantees int'l observers for Venezuela election

Source: Xinhua| 2018-02-09 05:56:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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CARACAS, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- President Nicolas Maduro vowed Thursday that his government was ready to receive international observers to oversee presidential elections on April 22.

Maduro wrote on Twitter that "Venezuela is open to giving the necessary guarantees and to receive all the international observers who want to come."

"More than inspecting, they can learn the impeccable electoral system we have built," he said.

The presence of observers was already broached by the president on Wednesday during a public speech.

Maduro recalled several points of agreement made with the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable during talks in the Democratic Republic, although the coalition ultimately refused to sign a deal.

"I am a democrat, I know how to win and how to lose, I will give all the electoral guarantees," said Maduro on Thursday.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) has establish a timeline of technical processes ahead of the election, which will govern new inscriptions onto electoral rolls, candidacy applications, and precise dates for the campaign.

The Venezuelan government has been the subject of increase pressure and sanctions from abroad, including the U.S. and the EU, for allegedly electoral fraud, corruption and causing widespread poverty.

The president of neighboring Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos, has vowed to not recognize the elections in April, saying this week that "the elections are completely invalid because voters have no guarantees."

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