Statement on Venezuela’s 2024 Presidential Election

The New York City Bar Association condemns the Venezuelan government’s lack of transparency concerning the results following the July 28, 2024, election and is gravely concerned by the reported use of excessive police force and arbitrary or politically motivated detentions by the Venezuelan government in response to peaceful post-election demonstrations. The City Bar calls on the Venezuelan government to fully adhere to its international and domestic legal obligations, including Venezuela’s commitment to respect its citizens’ freedoms of political speech and assembly, as well as their rights to due process of law.

On July 28, 2024, Venezuelans went to the polls to choose between, inter alia, Messrs. Nicolás Maduro and Edmundo González Urrutia.1 The election took place against a backdrop of restricted freedoms for political actors, civil society organizations, and the media.2

After the polls closed and some initial delays, the National Electoral Council (CNE3) declared Nicolás Maduro as the winner of the presidential election with no supporting evidence. The CNE still has not published disaggregated data or any of the vote tally sheets, despite repeated calls from Venezuelans and the international community to do so4. Information published by the opposition, which includes 80 percent of the sheets received from polling stations throughout Venezuela, indicate that Edmundo González Urrutia won with over 67 percent of the vote.5

The Carter Center participated in monitoring the election and assessed that Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election did not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic.

Since the election, Mr. Maduro and his supporters have threatened to arbitrarily detain opposition leaders, including Edmundo González and María Corina Machado. There have also been multiple arrests of peaceful protesters around Venezuela. There have been serious allegations of excessive force by the police.6 Moreover, there are allegations that the authorities have been unwilling to provide timely and accurate information concerning the whereabouts of persons who were detained, which would constitute serious violations of international law.7

Law enforcement and security forces should not become an instrument of political violence used against citizens exercising their democratic rights. The New York City Bar Association calls on the Venezuelan government to provide transparency concerning the outcome, respect the rule of law and democracy and comply with validated election results, refrain from using law enforcement and security forces against protestors and free those who have been arrested while peacefully protesting. 

Inter-American Affairs Committee
Jessenia Vazcones-Yagual, Chair

Task Force on the Rule of Law
Marcy L. Kahn, Chair
Alan Rothstein, Vice Chair

Vance Center for International Justice
Jaime Chávez Alor, Associate Executive Director