The Popular Consultation did not escape the division of Venezuelans here and abroad. And this is not by chance. As a civil society organization, ANCO always indicated that this was a proposal that we as citizens made available to the political sector of the official opposition to get the country out of this serious crisis. Our proposal is not just a consultation with questions, it is a way of approaching the problem and approaching a solution. Unfortunately, we are still struggling to make it clear what this is about, on pain of this instrument being irretrievably lost in the abyss of failed attempts to displace the Nicolas Maduro Moros regime from power in Venezuela.
I am going to try - again - to explain the scope because I am still receiving questions that point, not only to "that we already did a consultation in 2017" (which I have already answered in previous notes) but to others that point to what will happen "the day after" the Popular Consultation, and that is what we, the promoters, will do in the days after the people have pronounced themselves and how the Consultation would facilitate the political transition in the country.
First of all, the Popular Consultation is NOT a magic recipe for getting out of Maduro the other day that the people have expressed themselves. It is a NECESSARY condition for the people to express themselves so that the succession of events over which we would move can occur IF THE CORRECT QUESTIONS ARE ASKED OF THE VENEZUELAN PEOPLE. ANCO was in charge of promoting in the proposed questions that the people ORDER the Cessation of Usurpation, so that later a Transitional Government would be established that would lead us to Free Elections. In addition to this, the people APPROVED a permit for the International Community to do WHAT IS NECESSARY to help Venezuela reestablish democracy and freedom in our country within the framework of the International Agreements signed by Venezuela and which are law in the Republic. This includes everything that you are imagining well, only with the permission of the Depositary of Sovereignty making use of a fundamental principle of international order: The Principle of Self-Determination of the Peoples. Greater permission than that DOES NOT EXIST.
If we ask the people this question, and the people answer positively and mostly, it is understood that the next step would be to make this happen with the help of everyone who wants to help us because we would already have the sovereign permission of the Venezuelan people. We could appear before the UN Security Council itself, despite Russia and China, who would hardly be in a position to object to our request, because it would already be the same people who demand that the crimes against humanity be ended by force, alleging the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) to which all the signatories of the UN Letter are morally obliged.
But assuming that they do not help us, that possibility would be open to be exercised at any time by any country that seriously considers it and we would have WHAT TO DO TO JUSTIFY that movement from the day after the people have authorized it.
However, there were two ways of applying this instrument. The first way was to make the international community aware of this strategy and to use it as a mechanism for exerting pressure, so that Maduro would be openly measured, and by echoing that pressure would allow the Venezuelan people to have no problem with a promise to fulfill their mandate, if the people demonstrated against their continuity in power. That would have been ideal. The second modality indicated to do it without that "authorization", which also implied that the countries that support us should negotiate with the countries the measures of force that would be applied to the regime in case it did not abide by the result of that Popular Consultation, as a mandate of the Venezuelan people. In no case was it ever considered to do so WITHOUT the subsequent support negotiated PRIORLY with the International Community, and that is why diplomatic conversations with the entire world, especially with the U.S. government about the application of this instrument to all Venezuelans inside and outside the country, were of vital importance.
In any case, it was a complete and complex plan that involved using the questions we posed to the Government in Charge. It was not to consult for the sake of consulting something that did not materialize from "the day after" the Consultation. Consequently, it is not very difficult to conclude that if the questions are changed, the whole approach changes radically.
As will be seen, given the ANCO's approach, the Popular Consultation was configured as an ideal instrument that, applied in the precise manner, could attract the necessary support to move the regime step by step with the consent of all Venezuelans and the indisputable support of the countries of the International Community.
Now, what did the official opposition understand? Unfortunately not much. They understood it as a mechanism of struggle but not with the scope that we gave them. This is not bad in itself, but if this instrument, which is so difficult to apply, is not used well, it becomes extremely difficult to apply later, as we are already witnessing when people are still asking us why a "new consultation" is necessary, given that the scope and content of this new proposal is completely different.
But things get complicated when the content of the questions is distorted, changing the order of factors and the consequent logic. Asking Venezuelans if they agree to an election to cease the usurpation is VERY DIFFERENT from ordering a cessation of the usurpation to install a Transitional Government that will hold free elections. In the first logical structure you do not need the international community as if you would need it in the second to make effective the order to cease the usurpation. In the first proposal the plan is completely changed and consequently what happens "the day after". In that case, the day after the official opposition would be telling the world that the people are "asking for elections" to get Maduro out, only with Maduro in power by the time those elections take place. What a difference! That logic is suspiciously coincidental with Leopoldo López' speech in Spain after his escape...
The Popular Consultation proposed by ANCO is clear about what to do "the day after" if the people decide to get out of Maduro. If another Consultation is finally held, we will know what those who want to use it for something else will do. In that case, each one of us will know what to do "the day after"...
Caracas, November 11, 2020
Blog: http://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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