CP/RES. 869 (1436/04)

RESULTS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL RECALL REFERENDUM HELD IN VENEZUELA ON AUGUST 15, 2004

(Adopted at its session held on August 26, 2004)

THE PERMANENT COUNCIL OF THE ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES,

HAVING HEARD the oral reports by Ambassador Valter Pecly Moreira, Permanent Representative of the Federative Republic of Brazil and Head of the Electoral Observation Mission of the OAS and the Secretary General of the OAS, Dr. César Gaviria; and the statements of the Permanent Representative of Venezuela, Ambassador Jorge Valero, on the presidential recall referendum held in Venezuela on August 15, 2004;

RECOGNIZING the wide-scale and peaceful participation of the Venezuelan people in the presidential recall referendum, held in accordance with Article 72 of the National Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela;

CONSIDERING that one of the essential elements of representative democracy is access to and the exercise of power in accordance with the rule of law, the holding of periodic, free, and fair elections based on secret balloting and universal suffrage as an expression of the sovereignty of the people, in accordance with the provisions of the Inter-American Democratic Charter;

CONSIDERING ALSO that the Constitutional Government of President Hugo Chávez Frías has complied with the constitutional norms of its country and its commitments to the hemispheric community, by cooperating in the holding the aforementioned referendum, thereby strengthening democracy in the Americas; and

BEARING IN MIND that resolution CP/RES. 833 (1348/02) urged all political and social sectors in Venezuela to promote a constitutional, democratic, peaceful, and electoral solution,

RESOLVES:

1. To give recognition to the people of Venezuela and its democratic political institutions for the public spirit they demonstrated in the referendum process and to President Hugo Chávez Frías for having achieved a successful ratification of his term of office.

2. To acknowledge the contribution made by the Secretary General of the OAS, Dr. César Gaviria, and by the Secretary General’s Group of Friends for Venezuela, in facilitating the process leading up to the referendum.

3. To acknowledge, in particular, the responsible and effective manner in which the OAS Electoral Observation Mission chaired by Ambassador Valter Pecly Moreira, Permanent Representative of the Federative Republic of Brazil, fulfilled its mandate.

4. To express its satisfaction with the holding of the presidential recall referendum in accordance with Article 72 of the Constitution of Venezuela as well as the fulfillment of the mandate of resolution CP/RES. 833 (1348/02) of December 22, 2002, which urged the attainment in Venezuela of a constitutional, democratic, peaceful, and electoral solution.

5. To call upon all players to respect the results of the presidential recall referendum, issued by the National Electoral Council and endorsed by the OAS Electoral Observation Mission, the Carter Center, and other international observers. Furthermore, to urge all sectors of society to refrain from promoting violence and intolerance, in order to facilitate the necessary quest for national reconciliation.

6. To urge all sectors in Venezuela to respect human rights, the rule of law, and full enjoyment of freedom of expression and of the press as established in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Inter-American Democratic Charter.

7. To welcome the offer made by President Hugo Chávez Frías to foster national dialogue. In this regard, to call for a process of reconciliation, in adherence to the principles of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, with the participation of all sectors of Venezuelan public life, in which differences are settled in the framework of the democratic system and in a spirit of transparency, pluralism, and tolerance.