Monday 24 February 2025 
By : Hana Saada
ALGIERS- The National Independent Authority of Elections and the National Electoral Council of Venezuela signed on Tuesday, in Algiers, a memorandum of understanding for a mutual cooperation in the organization of election process.
This memorandum aims to “exchange experiences and information in the organization of electoral processes, particularly in the technological field, in addition to smoothing relations between the bodies responsible for managing elections in both countries”.
Under this memorandum, “a joint commission will be created composed of members of the two bodies who will be appointed by common agreement. The commission will be responsible for defining and evaluating the priority areas of cooperation in the technical activity sectors relating to the electoral process in addition to the implementation of programs and activities agreed by the two parties”.
On this occasion, the President of the National Electoral Council of the Republic of Venezuela, Enrique Calzadilla Perez, praised “the high level of bilateral relations”, believing that cooperation in the organization of elections will further strengthen them.
He also welcomed the efforts of the ANIE which was able to “supervise several important electoral operations in a short time”.
For his part, the president of ANIE, Mohamed Charfi, affirmed that “the adoption of an electronic mode for the management of elections remains among the strategic objectives of his body”, adding that the mode followed by ANIE since its creation “has proven its effectiveness in terms of transparency and regularity of the electoral operation”.
In addition, Mr. Charfi expressed ANIE’s readiness to exchange expertise with the National Electoral Council of Venezuela so that the two countries mutually benefit from their experiences in this area.
Venezuela and Algeria enjoy constructive relations with bilateral cooperation further increasing. The Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Algeria celebrated on March 24, 2021 the 50th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between Venezuela and Algeria, with the placement of a wreath before the bust of the Father of the Homeland, the Liberator Simón Bolívar, in the popular district of Algiers.
In his speech on this special day, Ambassador José de Jesús Sojo Reyes explained the various milestones of the bilateral relationship, highlighting that the friendship between Venezuela and Algeria, based on principles, has allowed over the years to advance in different areas of cooperation, such as energy, communication, transport and culture, with many coincidences in international forums, such as OPEC, Movement of Non-Alienated Countries and in cooperation between South America and Africa, thus reiterating what was expressed by the Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza on the existence of a positive balance in these 50 years of bilateral relationship, according to the Embassy’s communiqué.
“Principles of friendship, cooperation, solidarity and mutual respect; common values in matters of independence, sovereignty, the right to self-determination of peoples, the rejection of foreign interference. We both love freedom and have made great efforts to contribute to peace and freedom on our continents. It is noteworthy that these relations were greatly strengthened after the arrival to power of President Hugo Chávez and have continued to be strengthened during the years of government of our current President Nicolás Maduro.”
The development of official visits at the presidential level; of foreign and other ministers, Summits of Heads of State held in both capitals, such as the First OPEC Summit in Algiers (1975) and the Second OPEC Summit (2000), as well as the II ASA Summit, in Porlamar (2009) ; the exchange of technical, artistic and cultural delegations. The agreements reached in areas of bilateral interest such as energy, transport, communications, culture and trade, among others, are elements that show a positive balance in the development of 50 years of bilateral relations between Venezuela and Algeria, with prospects of continuing to deepen.
The “Algeria-Venezuela” parliamentary friendship group was set up, in February, at the headquarters of the People’s National Assembly (APN), with the objectives of promoting all-out cooperation and further deepening dialogue between the two parliamentary institutions.
Last June, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Mr. Nicolas Maduro paid a two-day working and friendship visit, during which he had fruitful talks with the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
In this vein, Algeria and Venezuela noted a convergence of views on the various international issues of common interest, particularly with regard to the Palestinian and Sahrawi causes, as well as the situation in Libya.