Though Justin Trudeau hasn’t commented on the turmoil surrounding Venezuela’s disputed election results, Canada is standing with the Venezuelan opposition to the authoritarian Maduro regime.
Canada has thrown its support to protests that have broken out in Venezuela after electoral authorities declared incumbent socialist president Nicolás Maduro the victor in a widely disputed election on Sunday and have condemned Maduro’s subsequent deployment of the military against the Venezuelan people.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre released a statement on Monday calling on Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly to not recognize Maduro’s claims of victory in Venezuela’s “sham” election and his use of the military to suppress voters and the country’s chosen presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
“Yesterday, the people of Venezuela voted to free their country from socialist oppression. Yet the communist Venezuelan dictator, Nicolás Maduro, has refused to accept the will of the people and manufactured a fake result that will keep his tyrannical regime in power,” Poilievre said.
Opposition leader Maria Corina, who was barred from participating in the election and campaigned to elect Gonzalez as a result, claims that the opposition has evidence from the 70% of tally sheets they had access to that Gonzalez had more than double the votes that Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela received.
“Maduro filled Venezuela’s National Electoral Council with loyalists of his regime and forced opposition scrutineers to leave polling stations,” Poilievre said. Worse still, Maduro blocked the primary opposition leader from being on the ballot while persecuting and detaining her supporters.”
Maduro has called on the military to quash massive protests that have broken out in Venezuela in response to what protesters say was a stolen election.
“Under the Maduro regime, thousands of Venezuelans have been murdered in extrajudicial executions, freedom and free speech have been crushed, and millions have had to flee their homeland as a result of the dire economic situation that Maduro’s regime has created,” Poilieve said. “Maduro is clinging on to power unlawfully, even after the Venezuelan people banded together in historic numbers to restore freedom and democracy.”
Poilievre’s wife, Anaida, moved to Canada with her family when she was eight years old as her family escaped the socialist regime in Venezuela.
Poilievre called on Canada to demand the Maduro regime release a full counting of votes and access to voting records at polling stations to confirm the victor of the elections.
“Canada should only recognize a democratic vote if it is truly free and fair,” he said. “The Government of Canada must do everything in its power to support the people of Venezuela as they fight for freedom and real democracy in their country.”
Though Trudeau has yet to comment on what several countries, including the U.S. and at least seven Latin American countries, are calling a stolen election, his government is siding with Canada’s allies against Maduro’s claims.
“Canada, like many of our other allies, like many of the world’s democracies, has serious concerns about the election in Venezuela. We’re working closely with our partners,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in Toronto Tuesday. “I do want to take a moment to really voice my support for the brave people of Venezuela, the brave democracy leaders of Venezuela. It takes real courage to stand up for democracy in the face of an authoritarian regime.”
She said Canada has been supporting the democratic opposition and continues to condemn the “increasingly severe authoritarian regime in Venezuela.”
“I want the people of Venezuela, the democrats of Venezuela, to know that Canada stands with them and recognizes that they are fighting hard for democracy and freedom. And they deserve it, just as all of us do,” Freeland said.
Foreign Minister Melanie Joly also put out a statement condemning the socialist dictatorship for its anti-democratic move to suppress its opposition and hijack the voting process in the country.
“The people of Venezuela have demonstrated their commitment to the restoration of democracy in their country by voting peacefully and in great numbers,” Joly said. “We call on the Venezuelan authorities to respect the will of the people, and to ensure transparency and publish detailed results for all polling stations.”
The prime minister’s office did not respond to True North’s request for comment.