As Venezuelans headed to the polls Sunday in regional elections, Israel called for “free, fair and credible elections” in the beleaguered South American nation.
“As the gubernatorial elections are taking place today in Venezuela, Israel calls for free, fair and credible elections with independent domestic and international observation,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, despite the fact that Israel does not have diplomatic ties with Venezuela.
The elections are seen as a crucial test for President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition alike, after months of deadly street protests failed to unseat him.
“Israel calls on the Venezuelan government to protect the ability of its citizens to exercise their constitutional rights to vote and to ensure that the regional elections are conducted in a free, timely, and transparent manner that respects the prerogative of the Venezuelan people to shape the course of their country,” the ministry added,
“Israel urges the Venezuelan government to allow the Venezuelan opposition to freely compete for these positions,” it said.
Israel once had very close ties with Venezuela, before the election of Socialist firebrand Hugo Chavez.
Caracas recognized Israel in January 1950 and for decades relations were excellent. In 1998, Venezuela issued 10 commemorative stamps in honor of the 50th anniversary of Israel’s founding. The stamps featured images of Israeli and Jewish motifs — such as first Israeli prime minister David Ben Gurion, Theodor Herzl, Moses, a Torah scroll and the Knesset — with the Israeli flag in the background.
But Chavez, who came to power in 1999, was a harsh critic of Israeli policies vis-à-vis the Palestinians. Relations turned sour in 2006, in the wake of the Second Lebanon War. In January 2009, Caracas severed diplomatic relations with Jerusalem in the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead, an operation against Hamas in Gaza that followed months of rocket fire against Israel’s population in the south.
Since Israel’s embassy in Caracas was closed, Canada assists Israeli citizens with consular services in the country.
Relations did not improve after Chavez died in 2013 and was succeeded by Maduro.
Public opinion surveys predicted that the opposition would win a majority of state governorships, despite alleged government efforts to suppress a high turnout through last minute changes in voting places and other tactics.
An estimated 18 million people are eligible to elect governors to four-year terms in 23 states. Voting got off to a slow start at 6:00 a.m., when the country’s more than 13,500 voting stations opened, AFP journalists on the ground reported.
The opposition Democratic Union Roundtable (MUD) coalition on Saturday called on Maduro to immediately expel “Nicaraguan advisors,” who it said had been brought to Venezuela to carry out electoral fraud.
It said they were specialists in abruptly changing the sites of voting places, “a technique used by the Nicaraguan government to disconcert opposition voters.”
The MUD has cried foul over changes to the locations of 274 polling stations in 16 states from areas where they polled strongly in the 2015 legislative elections.
“If the vote were to be free and fair, the MUD would likely win between 18 and 21 states,” an analysis by the Eurasia Group said.
The vote comes against the backdrop of an International Monetary Fund report, in which it sees no end to the economic downturn and suffering of the population.
Venezuela “remains in a full-blown economic, humanitarian, and political crisis with no end in sight,” the Fund said in a report on Latin American economies.
The country’s economy will have contracted by 35 percent by the end of this year from 2014, and the Fund says the country is headed toward hyperinflation, when prices soar uncontrollably every day for a long period.
It said shortages are taking a huge toll on the Venezuelan people.
“The main risk to the region relates to the humanitarian crisis and ensuing migration of Venezuelans to neighboring countries,” it said.
“The number of Venezuelans arriving in Brazilian and Colombian border towns has been rising sharply as the crisis in Venezuela intensifies.”
International powers accuse Maduro of dismantling democracy by taking over state institutions in the wake of an economic collapse caused by a fall in the price of oil, its main source of revenue.
Sunday’s polls are the first contested by the opposition since the legislative elections, which gave it a majority in the assembly.