US considers arrest of opposition Freddy Guevara threatens credibility of November elections in Venezuela

The arrest in Venezuela of an opposition politician President Nicolás Maduro calls into question the credibility of the elections of mayors and governors scheduled for November in the South American country, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

Kevin O’Reilly, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said he “Absolutely unacceptable” the arrest Monday in Caracas of Venezuelan opposition leader Freddy Guevara, accused by the prosecution of “terrorism” and “treason”.

And he pointed out that this type of action they threaten the transparency of the electoral process. “The obstruction of the political opposition in Maduro certainly makes more difficult to show that Maduro and his supporters will allow fair competition ”O’Reilly said at a forum on regional elections in Venezuela hosted by think tank Atlantic Council.

The United States, which does not know Maduro’s term which began in 2019 and that of the legislature elected in 2020 considering them as the result of fraudulent elections, he promotes the “democratic restoration“In Venezuela through the elections”free Yes fair”.

In this direction, O’Reilly stressed the importance of the entire electoral process, not only to vote specifically, to meet internationally recognized standards.

“Certainly, from what happened yesterday [con Guevara], I’m a little skeptical of the goodwill to allow this to happen“, he underlined.

O’Reilly pointed out the need for “credible, inclusive, transparent” local, parliamentary and presidential elections, which allow Venezuelans to choose their own path, whatever it may be ”.

“Therefore, all we need to see concrete progress in these critical areas“he claimed.

The arrest of Guevara, a close associate of opposition leader Juan Guaidó, took place when the opposition and Maduro government plan to resume negotiations.

Guaidó, recognized acting president of Venezuela for the United States and fifty countries, described the arrest of his close collaborator of “kidnapping”.

Guevara was part of the opposition group which last week met a delegation from the European Union study the possibility of sending an election observation commission for these elections, scheduled for November 21.

For his part, the Leader of the Opposition Leopoldo López participated via Zoom of a press conference of his party, the Popular Will, after the kidnapping of his companion Freddy guevara. “He is not there. We don’t know where it is“, did he declare. In addition, he stated that “It is time to resume the protests in Venezuela, as is happening in Cuba. “

“I want to send a special greeting to all of Freddy’s (Guevara) family. We are many families from Voluntad Popular who have experienced this situation. We had over 500 Popular Will detainees. The entire leadership of our party has been subjected to prison, persecution and exile», López began his intervention.

Then he expressed: “I know Freddy very well. He has been a friend and wrestling partner for many years.. Together we founded Voluntad Popular. He is one of the people with the highest level of commitment to see Venezuela free. He made the decision to stay in Venezuela knowing he risked imprisonment”.

(With information from AFP)

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