Venezuelan bishops encourage participation in regional elections

Caracas, Venezuela, Oct 21, 2004 / 22:00 pm

With regional and municipal elections just two weeks away, the Bishops Conference of Venezuela issued a statement exhorting the populace to actively participate in the process and calling on authorities to provide appropriate guarantees.

The text recalls that “voting is a right and a duty” and “as citizens we are called to participate in order to be active members and not passive spectators in the decisions that affect us all.”

The bishops called on the National Electoral Council “to provide the necessary legal and administrative conditions that, without exception, respect this right for everyone.” They also encouraged the political leadership “to responsibly encourage such participation” and to not play power games that distort the exercise of one’s right to vote.

“It is essential and urgent that we recover the importance of a political life that is consistent with democratic principles, that doesn’t rob people of their expectations, especially the poor, and that is faithful to the principles of the dignity of the human person and the common good,” they said.

Lastly, the bishops expressed their hopes that “both leaders and citizens in the public and private sector work to foster a society based on truth, freedom and justice, in order to strengthen democracy for the good of all Venezuelans.”