ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (CMC) — Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders Monday took a cautious approach towards the results of the presidential elections in Venezuela where officials there said the incumbent, Nicolas Maduro, had retained power.

Guyana’s President Dr Irfaan Ali told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that an election has a number of components, including the operations and arrangement before the polls.

He said other components would include “the elections itself on election day and of course, the mechanisms after the election, the mechanisms to ensure that the votes are counted” and that “there is a credible process of verification”.

Ali said that there is also the need for a credible process “that allows persons to request what the law entertains — recount, and so on.

“So those are all competence of the election. We are not pronouncing, we cannot pronounce one way or the other. As I said, we don’t have details before us. But those are the components that we support in any democratic elections,” Ali told CMC.

Guyana and Venezuela have a long-running border dispute with both countries now awaiting a ruling from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the matter.

Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said as far as Roseau is concerned “the entity which oversees and governs the elections in Venezuela has indicated that President Maduro and his party have been re-elected.

“And therefore, we extend our congratulations as we do in all elections anywhere in the world, our congratulations to President Maduro on his re-election. We look forward to working with him for the next six years on a bilateral and multilateral basis,” he told
CMC.

Skerrit said that Venezuela continues to be a very important player in the hemisphere, from a number of vantage points “and we congratulate the Venezuelan people for conducting themselves in a largely peaceful and event-free election process”.

According to partial results announced by head of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Elvis Amoroso — who is a close ally of Maduro — with 80 per cent of ballots counted, Maduro had 51 per cent of the vote, compared to 44 per cent for his main rival.

However, the opposition dismissed the CNE’s announcement as fraudulent and promised to challenge the result.

It said its candidate, Edmundo González, had won with 70 per cent of the votes and insisted he was the rightful president-elect. Opposition parties had united behind González in an attempt to unseat Maduro after 11 years in power.

Western countries have called on Venezuela to ensure that Sunday’s poll was free and fair and transparent.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed his scepticism after the result was announced, saying the United States had “serious concerns that the declared outcome does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people”.

In addition, UK Foreign Office also expressed concern over the results and has called for the “publication of full, detailed results to ensure that the outcome reflect” the will of the people.

Prime Minister of St Lucia Phillip J Pierre said he is “very happy that the elections took place” and had been free of violence.

“The results that have been declared say that President Maduro has won. I can’t make any firm statement, in terms of what is out now is that President Maduro has won. I hope after all the audits are done, after the independent observers give their reports, I’m sure that you get to a position where the result can be sustained and the results can be accepted by the world… Venezuela must have peace. Venezuela can’t continue to be in a situation where the people are suffering. And I always made that point, it is the people of Venezuela who suffer.”

Asked whether he believed that Caricom should be commenting on the elections, Pierre said the 15-member regional integration grouping has always been a good neighbour to the South American country.

Earlier, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said he is hoping that Caricom leaders will issue a statement regarding the outcome of the presidential elections in Venezuela.

Gonsalves, a staunch ally of President Maduro, said he has already issued a congratulatory message the Venezuelan leader, and is hoping that Caricom leaders, who are gathering here for their 47th regular meeting, will do so also.