An infinite cycle of tyranny

By Luis Manuel Aguana

Versión en español

It is with great surprise that I find in the social networks the “spiritual hangover” that the exile of Edmundo González Urrutia (EGU) meant for the great national opinion, when this writer thought on the contrary that it had been the first serious step -in this case, unfortunately provoked by the regime- in the right direction, in response to the coup d'état perpetrated on July 28. Those of my generation used to call “hangover” the malaise that followed after having gone on a binge, either of alcohol or of something appreciated, that resulted in disappointment because events did not turn out as expected. Depression, then.

And the fact is that Venezuelans have been subjected for many years to a paralyzing bombardment of messages such as “the revolution is here to stay” or the very “until the end” of Maria Corina Machado (MCM). How not to expect then massive attitudes and behaviors from the people when things do not go as expected? Especially, coming to the conclusion that EGU “fled” leaving us with the package, after a brutal campaign that indicated that we all -and especially EGU- would die in Venezuela with our “boots on the ground” until the end.

I think that the opposition, in spite of making us see the opposite, did not gauge the extent to which those who now hold power in Venezuela were capable of reaching, even after having seen everything we have seen in 25 years. They never expected that the regime would kick the table and take the elections in a Juan Charrasqueado style. They really thought that the regime would deliver after all the frauds committed since 2004 because they themselves wanted to believe in the CNE's vote counting system. But the truth hit them in the face and it seems that they still do not react, believing that they would even respect EGU.

The immediate consequence of this fraud-coup d'état was the fierce persecution of all those who might have had contact with the minutes of the electoral process, in order to find them and burn them. From the very moment of the coup EGU as legitimate President Elect should have been out of Venezuela, not a month later when it was perfectly foreseeable that he would be threatened and blackmailed with his family. No one was wondering that with EGU dead we are back to the beginning of all this, without a verifiable legitimacy, because those minutes would not even be worth the paper where they are printed somewhere -which I hope is out of the country- because they all point to EGU as the legitimate winner of 28J. EGU is in person the depositary of the popular will of 28J!  My apologies for the crudeness and may God protect and watch over the life of the President Elect.

However, there is still a petty opposition that, following the narrative of the regime, is capable of expressing that he fled, without fully understanding the sacrifice of leaving behind his eldest daughter and her family, as he is fully aware, as the depositary of the very high cost that those acts have meant in deaths, detainees and tortured people. EGU knows that if he fell into the hands of the regime all that would have been lost in a second. With that weight on his shoulders, EGU leaves his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren as hostages in Venezuela. Hardly anyone would want to be in that position.

But no, in the opinion of many people, EGU had to stay in the country because of the repeated slogan quoted millions of times, where his political role is insignificant compared to that of MCM, beyond saying that the President is in the country fighting against a coup d'état, of which we can do little or nothing from Venezuela.

In other words, the most valuable person that came out of this electoral process and who can do the most outside Venezuela to convince the International Community of his own legitimacy, left himself exposed to whatever the regime feels like doing. However, now, thanks to those fallen and imprisoned heroes, and the many hopeful people in Venezuela who collaborated on July 28, he not only has the backing of some Acts that legitimize him as President before the world, but he can also achieve a clear and firm diplomatic strategy that determines actions against what is happening in the country.

Regardless of what the regime says from now on, the best thing that could have happened to us was that the legitimate President of Venezuela left the country, regardless of the circumstances surrounding that episode.

I have repeatedly insisted on the importance for EGU, as a career diplomat, experienced in the language used by the International Community, to take the lead in a diplomatic offensive, which cannot wait in any way, to begin to address issues such as his own recognition as the legitimate President of Venezuela and the actions that the International Community can and should take to remove the illegitimate regime from the country, and to begin to prepare, together with the Western powers, a strategy that can free us from the interference of China, Russia, Iran and Cuba in our country.

This is by no means an easy job to do, and he will need all the help he can get from the prepared diaspora. But not even 24 hours have passed since EGU's departure to Spain, where with the little help of the official propaganda, a sector of the opposition is discrediting this very important step, which although it should have been foreseen and previously programmed by the opposition, so that EGU would not have to fear for his family, it was and is definitely fundamental for the process of the country's recovery to advance rapidly from abroad.

I do not know if the solution to the Venezuelan problem is just around the corner, as many media anchors of the opposition think, as they are saying every day in the social networks. Let's hope so. Unfortunately, more than 20 years of waiting for that “fast train” or that “fast track” very typical of Venezuelans, are more than enough to stop believing that without the hard and sustained work of an opposition whose only concern is to liberate Venezuela, something concrete in the right direction will be achieved.

Well, MCM and EGU achieved with that unquestionable sustained work to get where we have arrived, never before have we come so far, for God's sake, let's give a chance to so much sacrifice! Let the effort be finished by January 10, 2025 and complete a stage that began on October 22, 2023, with primaries that reflected a massive rejection of the political “status quo” of the regime and its opposition. Otherwise, we will be condemned to never finish what we started, living in an infinite cycle of tyranny. If we do not do so, we will truly deserve it.

Caracas, September 10, 2024

Blog: TIC’s & Derechos Humanos, https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/

Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com

Twitter:@laguana