Electoral observers from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) will be present during Colombia’s May 25, presidential elections said the Ministry of the Interior on Monday.
UNASUR’s Secretary General Julio Prado, and several UNASUR advisers met with Colombia’s Minister of the Interior Iragorri Aurelio Valencia, on Monday to formalize plans for the multinational body to provide Colombia with 39 electoral observers, during May 25’s presidential elections.
Minister Aurelio said in the Monday press release that the foreign observers would begin arriving on May 20, and would be used “to ensure transparency in the presidential elections.”
The National Electoral Director of Argentina present at the meeting, Alejandro Tullio, praised the decision saying, “These Monitoring Commissions carried out in Colombia are good practice in electoral matters and a model for replication throughout the region.”
The UNASUR observers will be provided with personal security from the Colombian government during their observation duties, said Aurelio.
UNASUR was created in 2008 as an international organization to support “regional integration in energy, education, health, environment, infrastructure, security and democracy.”
In addition to Colombia, the current 12 member states are: Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, Suriname, Guyana, Paraguay, Venezuela and Chile.
Sources
- Veedores de UNASUR comenzarán a llegar el 20 de mayo (Ministry of the Interior)
- Historia UNASUR (UNASUR)
- Unasur observará las elecciones presidenciales (Vanguardia)
