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Chile Blasts Venezuela Over Rights Abuses and Electoral ‘Fraud’
Chilean President Gabriel Boric accused Nicolas Maduro of trying to steal Venezuela’s election and said his administration is violating human rights, ratcheting up global criticism of last month’s contested vote.
“I have no doubt that Maduro’s regime has tried to commit fraud,” Boric told reporters Wednesday at the presidential palace in Santiago. “If not, then they would have shown the voting records. Why haven’t they done so? If they had clearly won, then they would have shown the records.”
Maduro’s administration is now committing “serious” human rights violations by oppressing protesters, Boric added. Chile’s government neither trusts the independence nor the impartiality of Venezuelan institutions, he said.
“Chile doesn’t recognize Maduro’s self-proclaimed triumph,” Boric said. “We won’t validate results that haven’t been verified by international organizations that are independent from the regime.”
Since taking office in 2022, Boric has spoken out against international human rights violations from Gaza to Ukraine and Nicaragua. He was one of the first heads of state to question the outcome of Venezuela’s election, saying shortly after the initial results were released that the Maduro victory was “hard to believe.”
