Media Center

Press Release


OAS to be Present at August 7 Elections in Venezuela

  July 25, 2005

A technical mission of the Organization of the American States (OAS) will arrive next week in Venezuela to be present during the August 7 elections, in order to begin planning and organizing the observation of the legislative elections that will take place there in December.

OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza accepted an invitation extended by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) to observe the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 4.

In a letter to CNE President Jorge Rodríguez, Insulza said that due to the lack of time and resources, and the complexity of the electoral issues involved, it is not possible for the OAS to send “an integral electoral observation mission, which could carry out a rigorous and responsible job” for the municipal elections in August.

The Secretary General ratified Rubén Perina, Special Advisor of the Department of Democratic and Political Affairs, as Chief of this preparatory mission. Perina, accompanied by a technical team, will be in Venezuela on August 4 to closely follow the local elections.

Perina said that "the OAS, with its presence in the country, will be able to begin to observe the electoral process that will culminate in December of the current year.”

Perina headed the OAS Electoral Observation Mission during the Venezuelan general elections of 2000.

Reference: E-154/05