• Submitted by: lena campos
• Politics and Government
• 10 / 08 / 2012

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Venezuelan ambassador to Cuba Edgardo Ramirez was the first citizen of the South American nation to cast his ballot at a voting station set up at the General Consulate in Havana.

In statements to local and foreign reporters, the diplomat said that hundreds of Venezuelans currently residing in Cuba are scheduled to participate in Venezuelan presidential elections by casting their ballots in Havana, including diplomats, business people and students.

Also included in the vote are patients and their relatives, who are at Cuban healthcare centers under the Comprehensive Healthcare Accord between the two countries, which has benefitted over 50 thousand people over the past 12 years.

The vote began at six a.m. on Sunday and will run till 6 p.m., Venezuela time, and as long as there are Venezuelans to cast their ballots, the diplomat explained.

This electoral process guarantees transparency and reliability and it is an expression of the participatory democracy existing in Venezuela, Ramirez pointed out.

Venezuelan citizen Carlos Mendez, who resides in Cuba and voted at the consulate, said that in the past voting was fiction in Venezuela, while the action is now a real exercise of power.

Source: Cadena Agramonte