Unasur "not to supervise" Venezuelan presidential election

On Thursday, the head of the electoral accompaniment mission of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) for Venezuela, Carlos "Chacho" Alvarez, offered details about the role his team is to play during the upcoming October 7 presidential election.

Alvarez stated that the work of the mission "will not be either supervise, nor to arbitrate" the election, but rather "gain the best experience and the best practices on electoral systems" of the member states of the block.

He informed that a meeting with the president of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, took place. In the meeting, technical details on the electoral system were shared. Information technology experts and Unasur officials, who had already taken part in the previous audits to the electoral system, attended the meeting.

Álvarez stated that since foreign observation missions will not be present during the presidential election, Unasur will contact the national observation bodies. He also remarked that Unasur also intends to contact the presidential candidates.

The head of the delegation added that electoral processes in Venezuela are reliable. "After the first meetings we have attended, we can confirm to the Venezuelan public opinion that the electoral system is reliable," Álvarez said.

Finally, the official stated that he knew electoral systems in South America, so he is able to assert "with full authority" that Venezuela has one of most developed electoral systems in the region and the continent, which ensures "high reliability and transparency," Álvarez concluded.