By Luis Manuel Aguana
A week after the agreement reached
in the National Assembly regarding the sentence passed by the legitimate
Supreme Court sentencing Nicolás Maduro Moros to 18 years and 3 months in
prison, we Venezuelans were waiting for something to happen, and what some of
us expected happened: NOTHING. The National Assembly very skilfully ratified
the decision of January last year concerning the famous "abandonment of
office" of Nicolas Maduro, an agreement on which they never initiated the
corresponding procedures.
They urged the security agencies to
comply with the agreements of the National Assembly, reiterated that the
constitutional order is broken, confirmed that there is a power vacuum in
Venezuela, and urged that a consultation be initiated with "all sectors of Venezuelan society to promote a process of
re-establishment of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,
as mandated by Articles 333 and 350 of the Constitution, and as reiterated in
the popular consultation of 16 July 2017” (see in Spanish, Acuerdo del 21
de Agosto de 2018, Ratificación de la decisión de la AN de declarar el abandono
del cargo de Nicolás Maduro Moros sobre su responsabilidad penal por hechos de
corrupción, at http://www.asambleanacional.gob.ve/actos/_acuerdo-de-ratificacion-de-la-decision-de-la-asamblea-nacional-de-declarar-el-abandono-del-cargo-de-nicolas-maduro-moros-y-sobre-su-responsabilidad-penal-por-hechos-de-corrupcion-vinculados-a-la-empre).
They were good with everyone, and in
a cat-pardian way they changed the previous arguments but so that everything
would be the same as on January 9, 2017: frozen. The difference is that the
political situation in the country on 9 January 2017 was very different from
that on 21 August 2018, the date of the last agreement. What hope can we
Venezuelans have that something different will happen, with a new ratification
agreement than the one made on 9 January 2017, if nothing has happened so far
with the agreement of that date? Could it be that they think we're stupid?
Could the National Assembly ratify
the "abandonment of office" of Nicolás Maduro on 21 August 2018, when
there had been an unconstitutional presidential election earlier, on 20 May
2018, which completely invalidated any act by Maduro of swearing in an
illegitimate body? Could they ignore the fact that elections had been
unconstitutionally called by an illegitimate National Constituent Assembly,
which did not exist in January 2017?
Last year, the National Assembly was
perfectly able to summon the then Vice President of the Republic Tarek El
Aissami to take office as President or to decide on his dual nationality, as a
consequence of the Abandonment Agreement, so that he could call for elections
in the following 30 consecutive days, because on that date it was in the first
four years of the constitutional mandate, as stated in Article 233 of the
Constitution. If the Vice-Chairman ignored it, the Assembly would have to take
the necessary decisions to fill the gap. That was the procedure to follow and
they deliberately ignored it to the detriment of the Venezuelans.
The Agreement of the National Assembly of 21 August 2018 aims to leave
in limbo the appointment of a government to replace the current one, with the
pilgrim argument of the "impossibility" of being able to carry out
this appointment because the regime has de facto power. Nothing could be
further from the truth. Regardless of the fact that his appointment did not
bring a new President to Miraflores, it was the constitutional obligation of
the National Assembly to appoint him, in accordance with the ruling of the
legitimate Supreme Court of Justice of July 2, 2018:
"SECOND: It is imposed on this
Tribunal in compliance with the supreme mandate to ensure the integrity of the
constitution and the order established in it (Article 334 of the Constitution)
to put an end to the institutional disorder currently reigning in the State,
which, in case if
extended, it could threaten the foundational foundations of our Republic; therefore,
THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA CORRESPONDS, by
extensive application in the line of succeeding to the office of President of
the Republic, in virtue of the evident absolute lack that currently surrounds
the Presidency of the Republic and the
tacit waiver that the Executive Vice President incurred in opting for another
public office improperly assigned, THAT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FIRST PART OF
ARTICLE 233 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA, SUPRA
MENTIONED, PROCEDURE TO FILL THE CONSTITUTIONAL VACUUM OF THE PRESIDENCY OF
THE REPUBLIC, until presidential elections can be held, prior appointment of new
Rectors of the National Electoral Council, purification and updating of the
Electoral Registry and Manual Voting, among other necessary minimum conditions,
adjusted in everything, to what is ordered in the sentence of the Electoral
Chamber of this Supreme Court dated 06/13/2018, File SE-2018-001. "
(see
in Spanish, Sentencia del TSJ-L declarando la Falta Absoluta
en la Presidencia de Venezuela y decreta URGENCIA de llenar el vacío de poder
conforme a la Constitución de la República, on the official Twitter of the TSJ-L at https://twitter.com/TSJ_Legitimo/status/1014611587745886211)
(underlined our).
It is extremely important the point
"until presidential elections can be held" according to "the
order of the Electoral Chamber” ruling dated June 13, 2018: this is basically
the appointment of legitimate Rectors, purification and updating of the
Electoral Registry, and Manual Vote. Nothing is further from the convenience of
the government or its opposition.
Even if that appointed government
were to be persecuted, its legitimacy would remain unquestioned. It is exactly
the same case when the National Assembly appointed the legitimate judges last
year. They were persecuted, but this did not prevent them from being appointed,
replacing the "express" magistrates, who were illegally appointed by
the last legislature presided over by Diosdado Cabello in December 2015,
because that was the obligation of the National Assembly.
Likewise, the new magistrates could
not even reach their headquarters because the government unleashed a cruel
persecution and jail for them. So what's the game now? Why not appoint a new
government? Is it because I'd be equally persecuted by the regime? Don't tell
me! Although they were able to make provisions for that, they had no intention
of doing so because the strongest (AD and company) already have commitments
with the regime to reach the electoral process with the government by next December.
The theme for these parties is not to change Maduro but to live with him and
give the chance to everyone to get to December for a new election, while we all
starve to death trying to buy food with a currency that is worth less each day
than the previous one and Venezuelans are fleeing the country en masse. That's criminal.
The scenario is now different from
January 2017 when the National Assembly declined the appointment of a
government, and even more different than when the people asked for it again at
the Popular Consultation on July 16, 2017. Now there is a conviction against
Nicolás Maduro Moros for his own corruption and money laundering, which
deserves not only the urgency of filling this constitutional vacuum in the face
of the international community, but also the urgency of immediately resolving a
situation of extreme gravity of the economy and a humanitarian crisis with
implications of mass exodus of the population. Now more than ever there is
justification for a government that urgently assumes the responsibility of
taking the decisions that will begin to resolve, with the help of the
continent, the critical situation that we Venezuelans are suffering, so that it
does not dispatch from Miraflores, but outside the country.
I have no doubt that some will come
out and say that if it is not from Miraflores you cannot govern. And I would
tell them that the legitimate TSJ is producing sentences of unquestionable
validity, such as Maduro's sentence, and they are not in the Supreme Court of
Justice on Baralt Avenue. This insistence of the National Assembly to limit
itself because "it is not possible to govern from Venezuela" leaves
the people they claim to represent defenseless in a criminal manner. Well, when
the organs of the Public Power refuse to recognize the demands of the citizens,
we have the legitimate right to defend ourselves and to go to the
jurisdictional organs to request what is denied us.
As of August 21, 2018, the National
Assembly and the majority of the political factions that lead it, decided for
reasons of convenience - and not that of the people they represent - to extend
indefinitely a problem that requires immediate attention, ignoring the urgent
cry of the country. We Venezuelans cannot wait another minute for solutions to
begin to arrive and stop the destruction of Venezuela. Since June 28, 2018, a
group of citizens among whom I am honored to participate, attended the
legitimate Supreme Court of Justice to request the urgent appointment of a
National Emergency Government (see in Spanish the complete request at https://tinyurl.com/y7x87ldb) to begin to give solutions to the problems
that Venezuelans suffer. The Courts are not to decide a political situation on
their own but at the request of the citizens by providing justice. And that is
what we now expect from the legitimate TSJ. They now have the word.
Caracas, August 27, 2018
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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