How Have International Leaders Responded to Venezuela's 2024 Election?

Four Latin American countries congratulated Maduro: Bolivia, Cuba, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Cuba was the first country to do so, with its leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez calling it a “historic victory.” 

China, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Russia, Serbia, and Syria also backed the CNE results and congratulated the incumbent leader.  

Among the 14-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc, Prime Ministers Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica endorsed the official result and extended congratulations to Maduro, with Gonsalves urging the group to follow suit. Both countries are also members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP)—a group of left-wing Latin American countries that includes Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela as well as six CARICOM nations. ALBA-TCP issued a congratulatory statement to Maduro the morning after the election. 

However, the prime ministers of Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago both cautiously acknowledged the CNE result. The government of Guyana, currently in a territorial dispute with Venezuela, issued a statement on July 30 supporting calls for a “transparent process of verification of the will of the Venezuelan people.” 

At a July 30 press conference that closed a CARICOM summit, the bloc’s current chair, Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, said the organization was not obligated to comment on Venezuela’s “domestic matters,” but expected that its member states would communicate individual positions.

While the world waited for the outcome, nine Latin American countries released a joint statement urging transparency and recognition of voters’ will. The nine countries are: Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. On the morning after the election, the same group released a second statement, demanding a complete review of the results in the presence of independent electoral observers. 

In addition to Panama joining this group, on the morning of July 29, President Jose Raúl Mulino announced the suspension of diplomatic relations with Venezuela, saying he was withdrawing diplomatic personnel until a full review of the election results is conducted. The decision was an important regional announcement, given that scores of Venezuelan refugees have fled through the Darien Gap and across the country on their paths toward the United States. Mulino has since offered Maduro and his family temporary asylum in the country in the interest of ending the political deadlock. This came after Mulino on August 6 proposed a regional meeting of presidents to discuss the situation in Venezuela. Maduro rejected the offer of asylum and said that Mulino did not have the “authority” to convene such a meeting. 

Although Chile did not join the statement, prior to the announcement of results on the night of July 28, President Gabriel Boric made a call for transparency. After the CNE announced results, he described them as “hard to believe.” Via X, he went on to say, “The international community and, above all the Venezuelan people—including the millions of Venezuelans in exile—demand transparency.” He added that Chile would not recognize any results that were not verifiable.

Another country that did not join with the larger group but rejected results was El Salvador. President Nayib Bukele called the election a “fraud” in which the “official result has no relation to reality.” He said his country, which broke off diplomatic relations with Venezuela in 2019, will not reestablish official ties until Venezuelans can participate in “real elections.” 

On July 29, Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Yván Gil announced a decision to break off diplomatic relations with seven Latin American countries. Six out of the seven—Argentina, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay—had signed the joint statements. The seventh is Chile. In the statement, Venezuela said it would withdraw diplomatic personnel from the seven countries and demanded the withdrawal of their diplomatic personnel from its territory. Peru called Venezuela’s decision “grave and arbitrary” while Uruguay called it “unjustified and disproportionate.” Both countries called for their diplomatic staff to abandon Venezuela. Chile’s Boric described the move as intolerant. 

On the evening of July 29, Venezuela’s Ministry of Transportation also announced a temporary suspension of commercial flights to and from Panama and the Dominican Republic, starting on July 31.  

On July 30, Argentina’s Foreign Affairs Ministry accused Maduro of cutting power to its embassy in Caracas and warned the government of Venezuela “against any deliberate action that endangers the safety of Argentine diplomatic personnel and Venezuelan citizens under protection.” The Argentine embassy has sheltered six political refugees from Venezuela’s opposition since March. After Maduro ordered the expulsion of Argentina’s diplomats, Brazil assumed custody of the Argentine embassy building and temporary representation of their neighbor’s interest in Caracas on August 1. Brazil also assumed custody of the Peruvian embassy and its consular operations on August 5.

Costa Rica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Arnoldo André Tinoco said his country is prepared to grant political asylum to opposition leader María Corina Machado and González, as well as “all other politically persecuted people in Venezuela,” including the six political refugees in the Argentine embassy. Machado thanked him but said her responsibility is to “continue this fight alongside the people.”

On August 4, Canada’s Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly released a statement that cast doubt on the results published by the CNE and stated Canada’s willingness to “support dialogue” for a “peaceful process of transition.” The statement also condemned the arbitrary detentions and violence committed against protestors in Venezuela. 

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, who has developed a close relationship with Maduro, called the Venezuelan leader on August 7 to express support for “auspicious outcomes” of the election. However, he did not congratulate Maduro for winning and called for dialogue. 

Prior to the release of results, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris said: "The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected." U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was in Japan, spoke after Maduro declared victory and called for the full results of the election to be released, saying he has serious concerns about irregularities. 

During an August 5 interview, ex-President and Republican candidate Donald Trump said that Venezuela is “being run by a dictator,” but did not mention Maduro by name. He also suggested that the capital of Caracas is now safe because the country is sending criminals to the United States, despite a lack of evidence backing his claim. Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar proclaimed Maduro’s defeat. Some legislators have called on President Joe Biden to restore sanctions on the Maduro regime.

On July 31, the National Security Council’s John Kirby said: “Our patience, and that of the international community, is running out on waiting for the Venezuelan electoral authorities to come clean and release the full, detailed data on this election.”

A day later, the U.S. government said that González had won the elections and encouraged a “peaceful transition.” A statement by Blinken cited the vote counts of tally sheets released by the opposition and in exit polls, as well as comments from international observers, as “overwhelming evidence” of an opposition victory. It also noted that the CNE had yet to publish disaggregated results. Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Uruguay are also among the countries recognizing González as the winner of the election. 

Latin America’s three most populated countries, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, have sought to play a mediator role in the crisis. They have neither recognized Maduro’s victory nor clearly stated the election was fraudulent. Following the election, the three countries released a series of joint statements calling for a more complete reporting of the results. In addition, on August 15, Brazil and Colombia called for a redo of the elections—an idea rejected by both Maduro and the opposition.  

In the case of Brazil, advisor to the president and former Foreign Minister Celso Amorim was in Caracas to serve as an electoral observer. He called for the release of electoral results for each polling station, as well as “impartial” verification. This came after Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva urged for a clean democratic process prior to the election and expressed concern about electoral violence. 

On July 30, Lula spoke via phone with Biden about, among other things, Venezuela and, per a White House statement, agreed on the need for the release of voting on the polling station level. On the same day, the Brazilian president made his first public comments about Venezuela since the election, saying: “It’s normal there is a fight,” adding that, “The people who don’t agree have the right to express themselves and show why they are not in agreement, just as the government has the right to show why it’s correct.” Still, Lula’s political party, the Workers Party, voted on July 29 to recognize Maduro’s victory.

Also on July 29, Mexico’s foreign secretariat called for a transparent review, including of the electoral agency’s minutes and full reports, in order to realize the final results. However, on the same day, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said he would recognize the victor confirmed by the CNE and that he had not seen evidence of fraud in the election. On July 31, he announced that Mexico’s foreign minister would not participate in that day's OAS meeting on the election due to what he called the body’s “biased attitude.”

On July 30, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who takes office on October 1, said it is necessary to have a full count of the ballots to know the outcome. But she also rejected interventionism and said: "We need to recognize the self-determination of the Venezuelan people." 

Meanwhile, neighboring Colombia, home to millions of Venezuelan exiles, expressed support for the country’s sovereignty prior to the election. But, following results, Foreign Minister Luis Gilberto Murillo said “the international community and the Venezuelan people” are waiting for electoral guarantees that should involve transparency and the verification of vote counts. 

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who normalized his country's relations with the Maduro government when he took office, broke his silence on the matter on July 31 in a post on X. He joined calls for a full release of detailed vote counts and said doubts over the result could lead to “deep, violent polarization with serious consequences of permanent division.” He also called on Maduro to “recall the spirit of [deceased ex-President Hugo] Chávez and allow a return to tranquility for the Venezuelan people … and to accept the transparent results, whatever they may be.”

On August 1, the governments of Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico released a joint statement supporting calls for an “impartial verification of the results.” The statement, which followed a video call involving the three countries’ presidents, also urged social and political groups in Venezuela to act cautiously in order “to avoid the escalation of violent episodes.” Then a second joint statement was issued on August 8 repeating calls for the release and verification of all results and urging Venezuela’s security forces to respect the right to protest, while adding that “solutions to the current situation must come out of Venezuela.” On August 10, Colombia’s Murillo shared that there would be a virtual meeting involving the three presidents and Maduro in the coming days to “advance agreements” regarding the review of the vote count.  U.S. State Department officials have expressed support for Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico’s efforts to facilitate a negotiation process. 

Lula and Petro’s August 15 calls for a new election have been rebuffed by both Maduro and Machado. Biden expressed support for a second election, but the White House walked back his comments shortly after. López Obrador, meanwhile, rejected this proposal, saying he he is waiting for the full election results and respects the “self-determination” of the Venezuelan people.

The United Kingdom and several European states have made calls for transparency and the publication of full election results. While Hungary reportedly rebuffed an effort by EU member states to issue a joint document, EU High Representative Josep Borrell issued a July 29 statement on behalf of the organization denouncing “flaws and irregularities” in the electoral process. Borrell followed up with two additional statements on July 30 and August 4 declaring that the CNE results were not verifiable and could not be recognized.  Seven EU member states—France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain—also released a separate joint statement on August 3.

On July 29, UN Secretary General António Guterres urged for “moderation from political leaders and their supporters” in the interim. 

On July 30, the electoral monitoring wing of the Organization of American States (OAS), which did not have a mission present in Venezuela, released a statement rejecting the CNE’s declaration of Maduro’s win, saying the electoral agency had proven itself to be biased in his favor. In a press release, the organization declared that: “The worst, most vile form of repression is to prevent the people from reaching solutions through elections.” Then during a July 31 permanent council session, the institution failed to reach the 18-country-minimum consensus needed to approve a draft resolution that called for the release and verification of the vote count. (See chart above for a vote breakdown.) After the vote, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for Maduro and others for violent repression of protestors and members of the opposition. On August 16, the OAS adopted a resolution urging the CNE to “expeditiously publish the presidential election records” and have an “impartial verification of the results.”  

A July 31 statement by G7 foreign ministers also urged for the counts to be released and pressed for a “Venezuelan-led solution.”  

A large number of international observers were prevented from participating in oversight on July 28. The following morning, the Carter Center, one of the few groups allowed to enter, asked for the CNE’s immediate publication of results by polling station. After withdrawing its staff from Venezuela on July 30 and nixing the publication of a preliminary report set to be released that day, the Center issued a statement decrying a “complete lack of transparency” in the results and an electoral process that “did not meet international standards of electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic.”  

Ex-Presidents Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic and Ernesto Samper of Colombia, who both served as electoral observers in Caracas, released a statement with a series of recommendations, including that the CNE release full results and calling for dialogue among political actors in Venezuela.

On August 9, Amnesty International published an open letter to the ICC’s top prosecutor in which it noted the increase in repressive acts carried out by state authorities. The organization demanded that the Court issue a statement denouncing these actions and that it expedite its ongoing investigations into possible crimes against humanity committed by the Venezuelan state.