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08/06/2004
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The civil society representatives of Latin America and
the Caribbean that have signed the Lima Agreement (AdeL
in Spanish), are brought together by a common concern
about the political and electoral situation in
Venezuela and we hereby manifest our interest in
contributing to the Venezuelan democratic process. |
We address the
following statement to the Venezuelan people and the
region’s public opinion:
First.- Our recognition to the Venezuelan people for
having found in the Presidential Revocatory Referendum an
institutional solution to the political crisis they are
suffering. The respect shown by the political actors and
the Venezuelan society is an unquestionable sign of the
civic spirit this brother country has.
Second.- We share the concern expressed in Venezuela as
well as in the rest of the continent about Venezuela’s
situation. We are confident that the Venezuelan public
authorities and society will preserve the minimum
institutional conditions required to preserve democracy in
the country, allowing all citizens and their organizations
to freely resort to all recourses and guarantees foreseen
by the constitution and the law. The use of these
recourses and guarantees set forth in the laws precisely
reaffirms and reinforces their validity. We hope that the
Venezuelan authorities –by means of their decisions-
encourage and protect them, and not impose limitations or
unlawful restrictions on them.
Third.- We urge Venezuelan authorities and citizens to
guarantee the full exercise of political rights and
institutional guarantees throughout the electoral process.
The experiences our organizations have prove that this is
the only way to keep the peace and strengthen democracy in
a country. Of paramount importance is that electoral
authorities ensure the optimal conditions for domestic and
international observation to take place based on the
accepted international standards. This will contribute to
provide free, neutral and independent opinions on the
electoral process conditions, thus obtaining the
indispensable legitimacy it needs to be recognized and
accepted by the national and international public opinion.
Forth.- Our interest responds to the conviction that the
Venezuelan political stability is key to the whole region.
We are therefore pleased to verify that the political
climate in this country shows material improvements, i.e.
the decisive repudiation of violence to overcome the
crisis. We believe, however, it is necessary to continue
deploying our best efforts towards reaching appropriate
democracy levels.
The responsibility taken on by the Lima Agreement vis-à-vis
the Venezuelan situation consists in encouraging the
international public opinion to play a merely constructive,
proactive and supportive role with this country, closely
follow the progress of the current electoral process and –whenever
needed - offer our collaboration to the Venezuelan
authorities and civil society organizations alike for them
to comply with their responsibilities and exercise their
citizen rights.
Lima, August 6, 2004
Full Members
Argentina – Poder Ciudadano
Chile – Participa
Colombia – Red de Paz Viva la Ciudadanía
Ecuador – Participación Ciudadana
El Salvador – COCIVICA
Guatemala – Acción Ciudadana
Guyana – Electoral Assistance Bureau
Haiti – Conseil National D’Observation
Jamaica – Citizens Action for Free and Fair Election
Mexico – Movimiento Ciudadano por la Democracia
Mexico – Alianza Cívica
Nicaragua – Ética y Transparencia
Panama - Justicia y Paz
Paraguay – Decidamos
Peru – Transparencia
Dominican Republic– Participación Ciudadana
Venezuela – Momento de la Gente
Associated Members
Costa Rica – Centro de Asesoría y Promoción Electoral
United States– Nacional Democratic Institute
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