By Luis Manuel Aguana
People
made a fuss about what the Catholic Church said in the CEV statement. Some
friends have written to me indicating that we are trying to absolve the Church
or trying to reduce what they said with a clear and direct message to the
country that it was necessary to go and vote with these criminals running the
CNE, especially when people reject this open fraud of the regime, wondering why
Maduro has not yet taken advantage of it.
It's not about absolving the Church for what she said. THEY ARE CALLED TO VOTE IN THAT ELECTION. That is undeniable. BUT (there is always a "but") we emphasize that what is important was not seen or heard because of the scandal that voices were raised that have loud speakers. The priests also said that if something different was not invented we would not get out of the problem, that abstention alone was NOT enough. That something else had to be done. I could agree that they could have said it better but the Church ALWAYS accompanied the opposition to vote. What was different? What is the scandal? That was what I highlighted in my previous note (see Quixote's warning or abstention is not enough, in https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/p/quixotes-warning-or-abstention-is-not.html).
The Catholic Church has always called for a vote, even in 2005. What you
have to look at with a microscopic magnifying glass, is that now they are
introducing an additional element that I believe is unexpected and of
transcendental importance. They would be VALIDATING a different route to the
one outlined if the opposition is creative enough to present it. And that is
where the pod is put uphill with an opposition leadership that has shown very
little creativity in getting out of this mega-disaster.
In saying it the way the Church said it, it does nothing but act as it
has for 2000 years. Remember that Jesus Christ spoke in parables. The point is
that he did it so that the common people would understand the word of God, not
the other way around. That's why I was surprised that everyone jumped up and
down in amazement. What they had to ask themselves was what they were saying
differently. I agree that they conveyed that the people were going to vote
under these circumstances consolidating the regime, but they have not done
anything different since this began. But this time they did it as the
economists say, "ceteris paribus", which means that if the conditions
remain unchanged, OBVIOUSLY THE RESULT WILL BE THE SAME.
To those who still shout at the doors of the church about the betrayal
of the Bishops, read the TL by Monsignor Ovidio Pérez Morales (@OvidioPerezM),
who has sent messages like these:
"To the sovereign (CRBV
5) we must let him say what he commands (CRBV 70-71). Many speak for him, but
he is not given the microphone. This regime has put a mask on him. The AN must
lead, now, with the group of democratic parties that microphone pass". (https://mobile.twitter.com/OvidioPerezM/status/1293358495471935490).
"Before the
December election trap, the sovereign must recover the exercise of his
sovereignty by means of CRBV 70-71. AN act now; more than 80% of Venezuelans
want regime change. Enough of more destruction of the country! God help
us" (https://mobile.twitter.com/OvidioPerezM/status/1293360224900964354).
"The Bishops
declared on 10 January 2020: "Venezuela cries out for a change of course
... a new President of the Republic ... The aforementioned presidential change
is made possible by Articles 70 and 71 of the Constitution” (https://mobile.twitter.com/OvidioPerezM/status/1293634923484635136).
"The last
Communiqué of the Presidency of the Episcopate challenges the NA and the
Venezuelan democrats to change the Government by applying Articles 70-71 of the
Constitution, as proposed by the Bishops in their assembly last January” (https://mobile.twitter.com/OvidioPerezM/status/1293643920568614923).
No one can doubt our refusal to go into a rigged election process. But
what else can an institution like the Catholic Church do but call for a
peaceful process even though we Venezuelans clearly disagree with that?
Challenge the regime in a peaceful way but handing the microphone over to the
Venezuelan people, as Monsignor Pérez Morales points out. Challenge the
National Assembly and the Democrats to act now and call on the Sovereign
People! The CEV's communiqué is not a simple call to go to a rigged election,
it is a call to those who claim to do politics in Venezuela to call on the
Venezuelan people to use the People's Sovereignty to displace the regime but
without saying so openly. And the proof is in the words of Monsignor Ovidio
Pérez Morales.
If the opposition - especially the radical opposition - has not
understood this message sent by the Bishops by now, the best thing is for them
to withdraw from politics and to do something else. In my view, the Catholic
Church is the most refined political institution in the world. Just read Universal History.
The search for mechanisms to safely call on the Venezuelan people to make their voices heard is an immediate task for everyone, and in particular for the Government in charge of President Legitimo Juan Guaidó Márquez. Today, several members of the Lima Group, the International Contact Group, the European Union and the United States issued a statement to the world indicating, among other things, the following: “…call upon all Venezuelans, of all ideological tendencies and party affiliations, whether civilian or military, to put the interests of Venezuela above politics and engage urgently in support of a process shaped and driven by Venezuelans to establish an inclusive transitional government that will lead the country into free and fair presidential elections, sooner not later” (see Joint Declaration of Support for Democratic Change in Venezuela, en https://translations.state.gov/2020/08/14/joint-declaration-of-support-for-democratic-change-in-venezuela/).
This is the spirit of what we have stressed time and again from ANCO to
the Venezuelans and of the declaration of the Bishops of the CEV: Let the People Decide! To manage
to open the roads so that the people can pass the microphone. That is what we
must work towards. The rest is to continue crying for foreign help that will
never come if we do not move first...
Caracas, August
14, 2020
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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