The sanctions: what if they don't go away?

By Luis Manuel Aguana

The office of the spokesman for the U.S. State Department issued a statement on January 9, 2020 that went viral on social networks in Venezuela. The official translation of this statement refers to "Free and Fair Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Venezuela" (see Global Public Affairs, US Departament of State, Free and Fair Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Venezuela, in https://www.state.gov/free-and-fair-presidential-and-parliamentary-elections-in-venezuela).

This statement has an important effect on Venezuela after the tour of President-in-Charge Juan Guaidó to the United States. First of all, nothing that this statement indicates is happening in Venezuela. There have been no free and fair elections in our country since 1998, the year in which Hugo Chávez was elected. As of 2004, the Venezuelan electoral system was changed. Jorge Rodriguez as President of Hugo Chavez's CNE at the time of his Presidential Revocation Referendum, and SmartMatic, the company chosen by the CNE to count the votes of Venezuelans for that Referendum, were in charge from then on of manipulating the results of each and every one of the elections that have taken place since that date in Venezuela.

Since that history is very long and Venezuelans have a very short memory, I better refer you to the extraordinary political report that Dr. Genaro Mosquera Castellanos, Director of the Benjamin Franklin Shool of Government in the United States, professor and specialist in research based on statistical sampling and in the management of electoral and population data, carried out for the Original National Constituent Alliance, ANCO, and entitled "Informe Consulta Popular sobre la salida del régimen usurpador", and that given its transcendental importance we have decided to publish so that every Venezuelan can better understand the reasons we have to propose a Plebiscitary Popular Consultation in Venezuela as a solution to the political crisis (see report in Spanish in Consulta Popular sobre la salida del régimen usurpador, in http://ancoficial.blogspot.com/2020/02/comunicado-anco-consulta-popular-sobre.html).

 

If after reading that report, which reminds us of every fraudulent electoral process of the regime for 16 years to this date, and you still do not recognize all the traps that the regime has done to Venezuelans to stay in power, it is because you were just a schoolboy without political memory. The report will help everyone understand why we cannot go to a new election of any kind with this criminal regime in power.

Hence, the reference by the US State Department spokesman to the Venezuelan electoral system is of paramount importance. The statement begins with the following sentence: "A broadly acceptable, negotiated transitional government must be responsible for overseeing elections”. The first question that comes to mind is how can such a negotiated transitional government exist in the first place without a cessation of usurpation? Negotiated with whom? Why does the State Department talk about Presidential elections when the regime has rejected such a possibility outright, putting forward the validity they have given to the fraudulent election of Nicolás Maduro Moros on May 20, 2018?

So, they are clearly assuming a presidential election after Nicolas Maduro's departure from power. Logic cannot indicate otherwise. And this is confirmed by the repeated statements of official spokespersons from the U.S. State Department indicating that they will not recognize another election in Venezuela with Maduro in power. And most importantly, and for the peace of mind of Venezuelans: that same speech supports the statements made by President-in-Charge Juan Guaidó since last year but which now synchronize with the position of the United States: "Guaidó reiterates that they will not go to the polls while Maduro usurps power (see in Spanish Diario Las Américas, https://www.diariolasamericas.com/guaido-reitera-que-no-iran-comicios-mientras-maduro-usurpe-el-poder-n4183220).

All this puts us on one track: a "negotiated transitional government" will have to be forced to oversee these elections in the wonderland described in the State Department's statement, which has “A new, balanced, and independent National Electoral Commission (CNE) – selected through the National Assembly …”, that exists the “Reinstatement of all powers and authorities of the National Assembly…”, and the elimination of “…all restrictions on individuals and political parties to allow their free participation in presidential and parliamentary elections. This includes protections for those who have fled the country fearing for their safety and security, and the release of all those arbitrarily detained, including political prisoners”.

One part that gives away that you have to get out of the regime first is the following revealing sentence: “The former Maduro regime must not be allowed to dictate the content of independent media actors …”.  For "the former Maduro regime " to exist, we have to get rid of the criminals first. After that happens, then the statement indicates that the United States and its partners would facilitate “the process for Venezuelan citizens anywhere in the world to exercise their rights by voting in a free and fair presidential election from abroad” and would provide “technical support and/or funding, as appropriate, to assist the voter registration process” and “…a team of highly regarded independent electoral observers to begin work with the new CNE as soon as it is appointed”.

This would be wonderful. But first we have to get out of Maduro and his narco-terrorist criminals. And that puts us in the first frame then. If they don't get him out through the sanctions that have been growing over time, when will we have that ideal electoral picture? Time is running out and the situation of Venezuelans is getting worse. Guaidó promises that "soon" Maduro will leave, because it is the only way that there will be "free and fair presidential and parliamentary elections in Venezuela," as the Americans say under the title of that statement.

If they manage to get him out through that pressure, as indicated by journalist Casto Ocando in his recent article, which reveals that "Russia secretly seeks a negotiated transition in Venezuela" (see in Spanish Revelan que Rusia busca secretamente una transición negociada en Venezuela, in https://primerinforme.com/index.php/2020/02/16/revelan-que-rusia-busca-secretamente-una-transicion-negociada-en-venezuela/) then there would be nothing more to say. According to the press release, "The talks began after the announcement of new sanctions by Washington, a maximum pressure campaign that seeks to accelerate a change of government in Caracas, according to sources familiar with the discussions between the two countries. Vladimir Putin's government is said to have reacted with concern after the possibility that this week the U.S. Treasury Department announced massive sanctions against the Russian oil company Rosneft, for its participation in the extraction and distribution of Venezuelan crude oil in the international market... "Russia would be willing to withdraw support for Maduro in exchange for the new government recognizing its interests in Venezuela, an idea that both Washington and interim President Juan Guaidó are seriously considering....”.

This would be extraordinary news. But would Maduro and the radical criminals be willing to leave just like that? If they leave, the story ends and the ideal negotiated transition that the State Department painted in its statement would begin, and this is where the river came in. But what if they still don't leave? What if this is still not enough and time consumes and strangles us more in this Castro-communist hell? Cuba has more than 60 years of blockade with people who, while waiting, have already lost their desire to continue fighting. How much longer will we have to put up with malnutrition and more deaths in our hospitals? How much longer do the politicians and the governments believe that the suffering of an entire people can be extended? We Venezuelans are not willing to stand idly by. This has to have a very short deadline, and we mourners have to do something. That is what we are demanding through the Popular Plebiscite Consultation.

With this mechanism we force an immediate outcome out of the hands of the people in a determined and measured time, not when "the exit is alone" because the regime "gave in". The International Community cannot turn a blind eye to the mandate of an entire people who decide their freedom, and ask for the help of the force of those who can and have the duty agreed upon by United Nations resolutions to intervene when there are crimes against humanity and a situation of humanitarian crisis recognized by the entire planet. If the powers agree and strangle the regime, that is fine with us. But if the regime refuses to leave in peace (which we unfortunately believe because that has been the constant behaviour of these criminals), we demand action commensurate with the size of the crime. Let's not wait any longer to demand our participation and self-determination as a people in this problem to decide our destiny through a Plebiscitary Popular Consultation that will decide a humanitarian intervention in Venezuela immediately…#ConsultaPopularPlebiscitariaYA

Caracas, February 18, 2020

Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario