On Tuesday, June 16, Minister of People’s Power Jorge Arreaza rejected the statement made by his Uruguayan counterpart Ernesto Talvi on the recent political and institutional events in Venezuela, and the statement issued by the so-called International Contact Group endorsed by Uruguay.
“Dear foreign minister, I think you are late for these events. Let me bring you up-to-date: For 3 years, the so-called International Contact Group has not done anything, nor has it contributed to Venezuela; it died as soon as it was born. In international relations, the living dead do not contribute,” wrote the Venezuelan diplomat on his Twitter account @jaarreaza.
The statement issued by the so-called International Contact Group questions the way in which the new National Electoral Council (CNE) was established and anticipates the non-recognition of the coming elections in Venezuela.
The document was endorsed by seven countries of the European Union: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom, and four Latin American countries: Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama and Uruguay.
On Friday, June 12, the Supreme Court of Justice appointed the new rectors of the National Electoral Council to organize the parliamentary elections scheduled for this year. The appointment took place one week after the Supreme Court of Justice declared an unconstitutional omission committed by the National Assembly in contempt to appoint the members of the electoral body.