Venezuelan president rejects calls for fresh elections

ISTANBUL: Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro rejected on Friday calls for redo elections proposed by the leaders of Brazil and Colombia, stressing Venezuela's sovereignty and constitutional integrity. "Venezuela has the sovereignty of an independent country with a Constitution, it has institutions, and the conflicts in Venezuela of any kind are solved among Venezuelans, with their institutions, with their law, and with their Constitution," Maduro said, reported by local media. Maduro's remarks came in response to suggestions from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who advocated for either a coalition government with the opposition or a repeat of the July 28 presidential election. Maduro criticized what he termed "megaphone diplomacy" by foreign leaders and cited the US' political disputes as an example of how such conflicts should be resolved internally. He reiterated that Venezuelans alone should determine their country's future, free from external inter ference. In a related statement, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador also voiced his opposition to external interventions in Venezuela's electoral matters. He stressed the importance of allowing Venezuelan institutions, particularly its Supreme Court, to handle the situation independently. Source : Anadolu Agency