EL UNIVERSAL

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the U.S. Carter Center declared that the information they collected in electoral centers in Venezuela matches the results the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced earlier on Monday, according to which the Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has survived a recall vote held on Sunday.
 
Nevertheless, the foreign electoral observers warned they have had no chance to certify the audits that were performed on balloting boxes.
 
"After a comprehensive analysis of our copies (of the electoral result records), which were our sources of information to evaluate the process, we are in the capacity to say that our information matches the partial results announced early morning by the National Electoral Council," said Jimmy Carter, former U.S. President and head of the Carter Center.
 
The number of Venezuelans participating in the election "exceeded 10 million voters, and there is a clear difference favoring President Chávez. It is also very clear that the opposition represent almost half the (Venezuelan) population," said the press release of the joint delegation of foreign observers.
 
According to Carter, who read the press release, the election faced several problems such as "delays and confusions resulting from the use of fingerprint capture machines." He added that in some cases voters were prevented from exercising their right to vote because they were excluded from voter rolls.

"We have not been able yet to corroborate a complete relation of the audit following the election," he said.
 
He added that no "serious acts of intimidation or violence influencing the voters' electoral choice were observed." Carter underlined that "the followers of both political sides gave an astonishing demonstration of peaceful co-existence."
 
Carter added that "now Venezuelans have the responsibility to accept the results and work together in the future."
 
Translated by Maryflor Suárez