The EU election observers began their mission in Venezuela on Thursday (October 28), as the campaign for the regional elections will begin next month, which will include opposition candidates.
This is the first time the EU has sent observers to Venezuela in 15 years.
The opposition parties are participating in the November 21 election after boycotting the 2018 and 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections respectively, and they accused President Nicolas Maduro and his party of illegally winning.
“The opposition will participate in these elections (…) and we want to hear from everyone,” Isabel Santos, the head of the mission, told reporters before observers set off from the capital, Caracas, to cities across the country.
According to Venezuelan electoral authorities, there will be more than 3,000 positions next month, including governors, mayors and councillors. Approximately 21 million voters are eligible to participate.
So far, a total of 44 EU observers have arrived in Venezuela. Santos said they will work in 22 of the country’s 23 states, adding that due to traffic difficulties and the coronavirus pandemic, no personnel will be sent to Amazon.
Santos, a member of the European Parliament from Portugal, said that the observers will release a preliminary report two days after the vote, and the final report is expected to take two months.
Observers will continue to be deployed across the country until November 29.
The Carter Center, a US-based advocacy organization, said on Wednesday that it also plans to send four international election experts to Venezuela in early November.
