As the Venezuela's presidential elections near, the Maduro regime has been ramping up censorship of media outlets and its overall persecution of opposition leaders. Among a string of arbitrary decisions, another practice has become common ground during the last few days: the ban and deportation of international observers.
Several delegations of Spanish and Latin American parliamentarians, as well as a group of former presidents invited by the Venezuelan opposition, have been denied entry into Venezuela by the Maduro government.
The most prominent was a delegation of former Latin American presidents and a former vice president, who were unable to travel to Venezuela after their Copa Airlines flight was prevented from taking off from Panama. The group consisted of former Presidents Mireya Moscoso of Panama, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez of Costa Rica, Jorge Quiroga of Bolivia, and Vicente Fox of Mexico.
The incident was reported by Panamanian president Jose Raúl Mulino through his X account, alleging that the airplane had been disavowed from entering Venezuela airspace. Fox posted a video on social media from the airport, in which he said: "Nicolas Maduro has caused all Copa flights heading to Caracas and Venezuela to be suspended." "A bad sign for Sunday," he said separately, in a radio interview. "We were removed from the plane with blackmail and pressure from Venezuela."
Also on Friday, Venezuela denied entry to a delegation from Spain's Popular Party (PP), invited by the opposition to observe the elections. Led by MEP Esteban González Pons and PP spokesman in Congress Miguel Tellado, the delegation had to return to Spain after being informed by Venezuelan authorities that they were prohibited from entering the country.
Alberto Núñez Feijoo, leader of the PP commented that the deportations are a clear sign of "fear" by the Maduro regime. "They know that the democratic spirit of the Venezuelan people is unbreakable", he added.
Colombian Senator Angélica Lozano and former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López were also deported from Venezuela. They had arrived to meet with opposition leader María Corina Machado but were detained and had their passports confiscated for an hour and a half without explanation. Lopez recorded a video at Caracas's Maiquetía International Airport expressing solidarity with the Venezuelan people.
Elsehwere, Chilean senators Felipe Kast and José Manuel Rojo Edwards were deported, ex-president of Argentina Alberto Fernández was denied a previously extended invitation and Brazil's Superior Electoral Court (TSE) announced it would not send observers to the Venezuelan elections after Maduro questioned the reliability of Brazil's electoral system. The TSE emphasized the auditability and security of Brazil's electronic voting system, countering Maduro's claims.
Maduro's criticism followed statements by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who expressed concern over Maduro's threats of violence if defeated in the elections. Lula stressed the importance of respecting democratic values and revealed that he had twice advised Maduro to uphold democratic processes for the sake of Venezuela's growth and the return of its expatriates.
It's worth noting that Sunday's elections will have observers from Russia, China and Turkey, country's which have had close ties with Maduro's regime during the last few years.
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