Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Wednesday in an interview with Chilean newspaper El Ciudadano that the Venezuelan electoral system is the best of the world, referring to the forthcoming parliamentary elections to be held on December 6.
“It is the most armored system to guarantee the secrecy of the vote, and it is envied by the rest of the countries in the world,” added Arreaza, who also pointed out that not only December 6 is an important day.
“On January 5, a new National Assembly will be inaugurated and strengthened by the people’s vote. It will play the historic role of rebuilding the legislative branch,” he said.
The Venezuela foreign minister remarked this legislative space needs to rely on the participation of a nationalist opposition independent from Washington, an opposition capable of confronting chavismo with ideas and responding to Venezuela’s interest.
Venezuela, between the OAS and sanctions
Regarding the “sudden and casual” report recently released by the General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) on alleged crimes against humanity in Venezuela, Arreaza asserted that this document lacks rigor and foundations and that it is part of premeditated attacks.
“To us, the OAS does not mean anything. We withdrew from the OAS. They are just trying to open the gates for a military intervention in Venezuela,” he warned.
Likewise, Minister Arreaza recalled that the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has been in Venezuela for a year. “The United Nations is already here. We couldn’t care less about this new move,” he said.
In that same vein, he pointed out that the U.S. Government is the one that should be held accountable before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity against the Venezuelan people.
“Since 2014, they paved the way through a number of executive actions and sanctions. Barack Obama declared Venezuela an unusual and extraordinary threat to the U.S., and since then, they have crippled our capacity to produce and import food, medicines and supplies,” condemned the Venezuelan foreign minister.
Arreaza also stated that the unilateral coercive measures are not a valid legal instrument of international law, and the only valid coercive measures are those adopted by the UN Security Council.
Perspectives for 2021
“We have charted a path. We are going to build an independent economic system (…) Our biggest challenge is to build our socialism and strengthen it (…) Chávez said it. To overcome capitalism, we need to build the Socialism of the 21st Century,” explained the Venezuelan diplomat, who also stressed the importance of building a system that can structurally overcome capitalism to prevent it from destroying humanity and mother nature.
Foreign Minister Arreaza also expressed his hope for new government in the region that respect the unity of Our America. “I hope political changes continue to take place and we could rebuild UNASUR and strengthen CELAC (…) To build what history has called us for, to be a pole of power in Latin America.”