By Luis
Manuel Aguana
"The
United States is leading a 59-nation diplomatic coalition against the
socialist dictator of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro is an
illegitimate ruler, a tyrant who brutalizes his people. But Maduro’s
grip of tyranny will be smashed and broken. Here this evening is a
man who carries with him the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of all
Venezuelans. Joining us in the gallery is the true and legitimate
President of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó. Mr. President, please take this
message back to your homeland. All Americans are united with the
Venezuelan people in their righteous struggle for freedom! Socialism
destroys nations. But always remember, freedom unifies the soul"
(words
of Donald Trump in his Message to the Nation -State of the Union- of
February 4, 2020, transcript of Time, in
https://time.com/5777857/state-of-the-union-transcript-2020/).
What
a commitment! That part of Trump's speech stirred the fibers of all
Venezuelans and was like a cold, refreshing lemonade in the middle of
a hot summer that has not just ended, renewing hopes of ending this
tragedy soon. But it also does something that was not expected by the
official opposition: It commits Juan Guaidó to an immediate solution
to the problem of Venezuelans. No more waiting, no more politicking
of long term elections. In the house of the most perfect democracy in
the world he was told that freedom comes first. Did they get the
message?
Trump
told him that he represents "the
hopes, dreams and aspirations of all Venezuelans"
and that his people accompany us “united
with the Venezuelan people in their righteous struggle for freedom”.
They do not accompany the G4-Guaidó, nor the official opposition
parties, but the Venezuelan people. That has always been the position
of the Trump government. But let's take a closer look at Guaidó's
presence in Washington at the U.S. Congress, especially at the
meeting to present the U.S. president's accounts to the
representatives of his people.
The
first thing that strikes me is not the words or the ovation to Juan
Guaidó (which is not to Guaidó, but to the struggle with blood in
the streets of this long-suffering people, a recognition of the
Venezuelan people for which I am personally grateful to the U.S.
Congress) but the very presence of the President in charge there,
after having announced in Canada that a meeting with Trump was not
scheduled (see
in Spanish
2001, in
http://www.2001.com.ve/en-la-agenda/221726/guaido-aprueba-las-reuniones-de-canada-y-cuba-para-resolver-la-crisis-venezolana.html).
What
I think is happening is that Guaidó and his advisors on the tour
were never scheduled to meet with Trump in Washington. That was
confessed by Guaidó when he made that statement in Canada. But when
he saw the matrix of opinion that was formed in Venezuela that it
was, to say the least, a sovereign idiocy not to get in touch with
the U.S. authorities being our greatest ally in this struggle, and in
his own backyard, after having made the effort to leave Venezuela -an
opinion that this writer fully subscribes to-, he changed the tour to
the United States for a meeting with the largest Venezuelan colony in
the United States, in South Florida.
This
denotes the "as it comes, we'll see", the well-known
doctrine of Eudomar Santos, which seems to be the norm in the interim
government. From those contacts with the American authorities,
already in the territory of the United States, the kind of meeting
with President Trump was not so far away, even if he had rejected the
offer of former Ambassador Diego Arria to set up an Arria Formula in
New York to bring the issue of Venezuela back to the United Nations
Security Council. I think that Guaidó's team should not reject that
offer.
The
increase in strong expressions against Maduro by the main
spokespersons of the US Administration, starting with President Trump
("smashed and broken"), would denote the imminence of an
immediate outcome. But since this has been the case in the past, it
would not be of any great significance now if it were not for the
presence of Juan Guaidó in Washington. The issue of Venezuela has
once again taken on significance in U.S. public opinion. The Trump
administration must be telling Guaidó in person about its plans for
the regime.
That
is a compelling reason for Guaidó not to return to Venezuela
empty-handed, nor for the White House to allow it to return without a
solution, because if that were the case, had he been taken to the
heights of Olympus in the U.S. Congress, Guaidó would descend into
the infernal depths of Venezuelans' disdain for not having brought a
solution to our serious problem from abroad. Will the Americans allow
that to happen? If there is an imminent solution that we do not know
about, why let Guaidó lose the trust of the Venezuelans?
What
if it is true is why would Guaidó return without an answer? Would it
return to continue holding meetings of the legitimate National
Assembly - and not recognized by the regime - in the streets? Would
it continue to sit in Baruta? What is the point of that? What we
would see is the continuation of negotiations for parliamentary
elections at the end of the year as we have been announced. That is
the recipe for a sure condemnation of the hope of all Venezuelans. A
few weeks later, this return to "business as usual" would
be cosmic dust. Consequently, Guaidó has to have a credible response
for Venezuelans that is not elections. We have already proposed one:
the Referendum for a Referendum to restore the validity of the
Constitution and let the people decide. It would be good for you to
support this solution and join what many sectors of Venezuelan civil
society are already asking for. You heard Trump say in the U.S.
Congress that they support our struggle for freedom. Then they will
surely support our decision as a people to end the tyranny in a
Popular Consultation.
Caracas,
February 5, 2020
Email:
luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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