The campaign initiated in social networks by the President-in-Office Juan Guaidó, in an attempt to qualify Nicolás Maduro Moros by the correct adjective, and that corresponds to him, makes a lot of sense (see campaign on Change.org, “No lo llames Presidente, llámalo Dictador”, in https://www.change.org/p/no-lo-llames-presidente-ll%C3%A1malo-dictador-jguaido-asambleave). Indeed, Maduro cannot be called President of the Republic, according to the events surrounding his illegitimate access to power, which all Venezuelans have witnessed since 2018, which is why he is not recognized by us, nor by the majority of countries that make up the International Community.
However, Maduro is not a dictator either, both by the classical definition and the modern one. According to the classical definition, "A Roman dictator was an extraordinary magistrate in the Roman Republic endowed with full authority to resolve some specific problem to which he had been assigned" (see Roman dictator, in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_dictator).
According to this definition, no legitimate collegiate power or Parliament has met to confer dictatorial powers to Nicolás Maduro Moros, as the Roman Senate did several times, until the elimination of the figure after the death of Julius Caesar. This definition corresponds to the third meaning of the DRAE of the word dictator: "3. m. Among the ancient Romans, a supreme and temporary magistrate, who was appointed in times of danger to the republic" (ver DRAE, Dictador, en https://dle.rae.es/dictador?m=form).
Perhaps the closest case in our Latin American history that resembles this classic definition of dictator, corresponds to the dictatorship of El Libertador in 1824 in Peru, when the Peruvian Congress, by Decree, designated him dictator in 1824: "Considering...that only a dictatorial power deposited in a strong hand, capable of waging war, which corresponds to the tenacious obstinacy of the enemies of our independence, can fill the ardent votes of the national representation. ...Decrees: The supreme political and military authority of the Republic is concentrated in the Liberator Simón Bolívar" (see Congress of Peru, February 17, 1824, Decree disposing that the Liberator Simón Bolívar assumes the supreme political and military authority of the Republic, in https://www.congreso.gob.pe/Docs/participacion/museo/congreso/files/mensajes/1822-1840/mensaje-1824-1.pdf).
The modern definition of dictator, established in the DRAE, is not broad enough to define Maduro's case. There, in the first two meanings dictator is defined as: "1. m. and f. In modern times, a person who arrogates or receives all political powers and, supported by force, exercises them without legal limitation." "2. m. and f. A person who abuses his authority or treats others harshly".
In Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros did not arrogate nor received all political powers (1st meaning), and has gone far beyond abusing his authority (2nd meaning). He usurped power by force, obtaining it through a fraud to the Constitution, so the definition of tyrant, in its two meanings, fits more extensively to his case and the situation of Human Rights in Venezuela.
The DRAE defines tyrant as: "1. adj. Said of a person: Who obtains the government of a State against the law, especially if he rules it without justice and according to his will. U. t. c. s." and "2. adj. Said of a person: Who abuses his power, superiority or force in any concept or matter, or who simply imposes that power and superiority to an extraordinary degree. U. t. c. s." (see tyrant, in https://dle.rae.es/tirano?m=form).
In this case, the facts show that the usurper Nicolás Maduro Moros has obtained the government of Venezuela against the law, ruling it especially without justice and at the measure of his will (1st meaning). On the other hand, he has abused and imposed that illegitimately obtained power and superiority to an extraordinary degree (2nd meaning), to the point of provoking a massive exodus of the population, imprisonment and torture, both civilians and military, for his sustenance in power. This far exceeds the modern definition of dictatorship, therefore, the request of the President-in-Charge to call Nicolás Maduro Moros a dictator falls short and does not fit the current political reality of Venezuela.
The custom of calling dictatorships to those governments that have not been born of popular vote has been rooted in our countries for a long time. I myself have erroneously used this term in my notes, but it is an error and it must be specified in its proper measure. In the end, it all boils down to the fact that these governments are sustained through the use of force, with the support of the weapons that citizens once entrusted to their Armed Forces, and that is why we simply call them dictatorships, when the correct definition is tyranny, which is the government exercised by a tyrant (see Tyranny, in DRAE, in https://dle.rae.es/tiran%C3%ADa?m=form). It is how that force is applied to the population by the criminals in power that makes the difference. Words and precision in language are important, as indicated by the President-in-Charge in his petition:
"...Don't
call him "mandatary", call him dictator!
Calling Maduro "mandatary" is a euphemism that moves away from the main goal of journalism: the search for the truth."
But Nicolás Maduro Moros is not a "president" either, because he has not received the MANDATE from the people in fair, free and verifiable elections, to serve as President of the Republic. In this context, where Maduro by no means fits the current definitions, if the President in Charge and the Venezuelans wish to specify the language, and adjust to the painful reality, preserving the historical truth of our country, simply call him a tyrant...
Caracas, July 26, 2022
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