UN expert panel sent to Venezuela blasts lack of transparency in presidential elections

MIAMI (AP) — A panel of experts from the United Nations said Venezuela’s recent presidential elections lacked “basic transparency and integrity.” The statement Tuesday by the U.N. group adds an important voice among those who have cast doubt on President Nicolas Maduro’s claim he won the contest after the Atlanta-based Carter Center said it could not verify the results announced by the government. While the U.N. team stopped short of validating claims by the opposition that its candidate trounced Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin, it said that the voting records the anti-Maduro coalition published online appeared to exhibit all of the original security features.