| Taken Question Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC December 7, 2006 Question Taken at the December 7 Daily Press Briefing Venezuela -- EU Election AssessmentQuestion: The EU has issued its assessment of elections in Venezuela. Have we seen the EU's assessment and do we agree with their assessment of the elections? Answer: The EU observation mission issued its preliminary report on the December 3 presidential election in Venezuela on December 5. We are examining it closely. The report found that generally the election was peaceful and within the established legal framework. The report does note some concerns -- the government's misuse of state resources and media for political ends, the "irrelevance" of the digital finger print scanning machines, and the intimidation of public employees, including partisan political pressure on state oil company employees. We agree that these and any other irregularities or incidents should be investigated.
The EU has said it will send a delegation to Caracas in February 2007 to present the observer mission's final conclusions. We look to forward to the final report and any forthcoming recommendations. 2006/1096 |
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