The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) joins the array of organisations worldwide in welcoming the judgment by the Supreme Court of Venezuela confirming the outcomes of Venezuela’s presidential election held in July. South Africa should respect the integrity and independence of Venezuela’s institutions, just as it expects Venezuela and other countries to respect the integrity of our own national institutions.

After a thorough audit and evaluation of all electoral records, the Venezuelan highest judicial body confirmed on Friday, 23 August 2024, the election results initially announced by Venezuela’s official electoral body. Following the July 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, the country’s National Electoral Council announced that President Nicolas Maduro received 52 per cent of the votes cast and thus won. 

Before it reached the decision, Venezuela’s supreme court appointed a team of technical experts and auditors to inspect and scrutinise all electoral records. In its deliberations, considering the findings, the supreme court verified that all the electoral council’s bulletins align with electronic voting records and the tallies from voting centres. The supreme court found no evidence or instances of manipulation or other discrepancies. This judgment is in line with the observations and findings of a number of election observer missions. 

As the SACP, we were ourselves directly represented in Venezuela during the election process and formed part of a larger South African election observer delegation. The South African delegation, inclusive of the SACP, issued a statement detailing the election process and explaining the various checks and balances mechanisms that ensured free, fair and credible election. 

President Maduro’s re-election signifies a firm stance by the people of Venezuela behind the progressive, socialist-oriented programmes started under his leadership, taking his cue from former President Hugo Chavez. It is these people-centred policies, which benefit a large population, as opposed to a tiny minority of certain individuals, that concern certain Global North imperialist regimes. 

In the past, transnational corporations from the imperialist regime of the United States exploited Venezuela’s natural resources at the expense of the Venezuelan people. President Maduro’s re-election underlines the determination of the Venezuelan people to uphold their sovereignty, independence and self-determination, and to advance the principles of the Bolivarian Revolution, which seeks to resolve the challenges of the Venezuelan people, particularly the majority, being the working class and poor. 

External factors, such as the United States-led imperialist machinations, including consistent attempts at regime change and stealing Venezuelan elections, were decisively countered by the Venezuelan people through the ballot. 

Only the imperialist regime of the United States and a few other countries refused to recognise the reality, while the majority of countries have welcomed the re-election of President Maduro. The countries that have welcomed Venezuela’s presidential election results include China, Russia, Iran, Palestine, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Qatar, Cuba, Honduras, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Serbia, Belarus, Algeria, Burkina Faso, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Mali, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Syria, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Djibouti, Libya, Abkhazia, Laos, Myanmar, Madagascar, Angola, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Gabon, Indonesia, Iraq, Kuwait, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Azerbaijan, Sudan, Mozambique, Uzbekistan, Sao Tome and Principe, Egypt, Cambodia, Uganda, Pakistan and Gambia. 

The people of Venezuela have spoken democratically by voting, in this election also defeating a tsunami of propaganda from corporations that manipulate the internet and control mass media, social media and other media outlets from the imperialist regime of the United States. Venezuela’s official electoral body has fulfilled its obligations by ensuring a free, fair and credible electoral process. The Venezuelan judiciary has played its role in remaining impartial to the rule of law. 

Issued by the South African Communist Party,