The Venezuelan way

By Luis Manuel Aguana

After watching the videos made public with the deplorable images of Juan Requesens, submitted by the regime's political police, the country's 100 years of regression are confirmed, not only in what is visibly evident in the destruction of its physical plant, but also in its ethical and moral degradation. The only difference that could exist between what the henchmen of Juan Vicente Gómez did in the Rotunda and the Castle of Puerto Cabello and what Nicolás Maduro's SEBIN/DGCIM does is that we can now perceive live-direct or delayed in a digital medium the misdeeds committed by the regime of Nicolás Maduro against the human rights of political prisoners.

The years of democratic coexistence and freedom had succeeded in putting the "know how" of the torturers into oblivion. But that was no problem for Nicolas Maduro. The Cuban regime sent people who knew about these macabre techniques, now updated, and whose expertise comes from the Soviet KGB and the East German Stazi, seasoned by the experience of almost 60 years of subduing the noble Cuban people. That's why we see in the videos a Juan Requesens drugged, naked, covered in excrement, completely robotic, saying and doing what he wanted to the henchmen who guard him.

If, after this spectacle, any of the collaborationist parties of the official opposition dares to deny that there is a dictatorial regime here that violates human rights, that it cannot be fought with the traditional methods of democracy, that it withdraws from politics or that it registers with the PSUV. With these videos, which are nothing more than a small demonstration of what they really do to the political prisoners in those dungeons, the regime spilled the drop that was missing by giving Venezuelans who do not accept their form of government a carte blanche to fight it, without stopping in which method to use to displace it, according to the convictions of each one. Hence, they are already being openly discussed in television programs abroad, which will continue with the attacks on Maduro and the regime's principals, no matter what happens along the way. That is the open declaration of the beginning of political violence in Venezuela.

When we are at the gates of that madness that we know when it begins (in fact it has already begun) but not when it ends (Colombia has been at it for more than 50 years), it is pertinent to stop and analyze what options we Venezuelans have before the demons are unleashed.

Indeed, we Venezuelans are without democratic solutions to this crisis. We wanted to think that by voting peacefully we could solve the problems with an orderly and democratic change of government. And that's why we hear the siren calls of the collaborationist opposition. Unfortunately, they were deceived and they deceived us. And now they intend to continue using this deception to continue to suck on the State's tit for the sake of elected offices negotiated in the regime next December. In this way the regime buys the opposition to stay in power.

One by one, it has cut the way for a democratic, peaceful and constitutional solution. As a result, they have become entrenched in power and have openly stated that they will not leave it despite the fact that the people have expressed their will for change through a plebiscite on July 16, 2017. According to The Economist, By blocking democratic change and by failing to halt Venezuela’s decline, Mr Maduro has made himself vulnerable to removal by force.” (see https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2018/08/09/a-failed-drone-attack-shows-that-nicolas-maduro-is-vulnerable).

The implementation of the Castro model in Venezuela has accelerated the economic crisis by several orders of magnitude, having destroyed the oil industry and the country's productive apparatus, causing the highest hyperinflation seen on the planet. For this situation alone, which has led our country to a catastrophe far greater than that caused by a war, some Venezuelans have sentenced Nicolás Maduro to death.

Is there any other option than to dismiss Maduro in a low-intensity war that the same regime has declared to us Venezuelans, that all we want is to live and develop in peace, democracy and freedom? I think I do. If Maduro and his regime insist on entrenching themselves in power by force, contrary to the desire expressed by Venezuelans, sooner or later an attack will succeed. There can be no doubt about that for the regime. Other heads of government died in attacks with better security conditions than those displayed by the Maduro regime on Saturday, August 4. But that will not guarantee us Venezuelans that the ruinous Cuban communist hunger system will leave Venezuela.

In fact, if that attack on Saturday, August 4, had been successful, Delsy Rodriguez (who was suspiciously not on that stage with Maduro) would have taken over the power and probably, in a new rigged CNE election, we would have in our future, 30 days later, another head of government much worse than Maduro. I leave it to your imagination who it might have been.

What other options do we have? I think that waiting for the final decision of the trial of Nicolás Maduro for his own corruption and money laundering, which is currently being followed by the legitimate Supreme Court of Justice in exile, could give him a non-violent way out. Let's see.

Given the forcefulness of the evidence presented in the public hearings of the trial held in Bogotá by the legitimate Attorney General of the Republic, Luisa Ortega Díaz, the citizen Nicolás Maduro Moros will undoubtedly be found guilty of the charges against him, thus ratifying the absolute absence of the person exercising the first Magistracy of the country by the legitimate Supreme Court.

This transcendental fact, which should occur in the coming days, will force the legitimate Supreme Court to assume the responsibility of appointing a National Emergency Government in exile, by virtue of the open refusal of the National Assembly to do so, not only because of the collaboration shown by its Board of Directors but also because of the open kidnapping of the institution by the regime and the persecution and imprisonment of its deputies, as was effectively demonstrated in the case of the summary raid on Juan Requesens' parliamentary immunity by an illegitimate body such as the Constituent Assembly they manage.

By appointing a National Emergency Governing Council, the legitimate Supreme Court of Justice would be generating a new constitutional Executive Power for Venezuela, with broad powers for the appointment of a Cabinet, as well as ambassadors to the most important headquarters in the world (OAS, UN, United States, European Community, etc.). This Executive Power in exile would have the full recognition of the civilized world that has rejected the Maduro regime and its unconstitutional Constituent Assembly. From that moment on, Maduro and his regime would no longer be considered a valid government in the eyes of the world, but robbers who assaulted the power that must be evicted.

Likewise, this Executive Branch, with its powers, could perfectly well make use of all the international assistance treaties to put pressure on those who hold de facto power in Venezuela for the application of humanitarian intervention, which they would be in a position to coordinate from outside. Either the Maduro regime negotiates its exit, that of the Cubans and the rest of the forces they have brought into the country, or it would call for the establishment of an international advance party to restore democracy in Venezuela, as happened with Haiti in 1994 (see UN Security Council Resolution 940 of 1994, "Approval of the establishment of a UNIH advance party to restore democracy in Haiti and the prompt return of the legitimately elected President and the authorities of the Government of Haiti, and extension of the mandate of UNMIH" http://www.un.org/es/comun/docs/?symbol=S/RES/940%20(1994) ). According to this precedent, there is no impediment for the UN Security Council not to do the same in the case of Venezuela, because there would already be a legitimate government of Venezuelans in exile to hand over power to.

So if there is another way of thinking about Maduro's and the regime's exit beyond committing a crime, however justified it may seem. This response is very much a Venezuelan response and the way in which they want instant solutions to complex problems, which has led us to create "institutions" as deeply rooted in our culture as food, transport and public service operatives.

This way of dealing with problems, which we might well call the Venezuelan way of dealing with them, may serve to "solve" them at the moment, but it does not correct the underlying problem but rather aggravates it. This solution to the Venezuelan problem of dismissing Maduro without solving the structural problem would prolong our suffering. We all got into this problem wanting to get out of the political situation we know so well, with a military coup leader who ruined our lives and our country. Let us not make that monumental mistake again, and even if it costs us a little more time and suffering, we must have the patience to resolve it in the right and structured way, so as not to cause a worse situation than we already have.

Caracas, August 12, 2018

Twitter:@laguana

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