Intervention at the Forum "What comes after 21N?",
of the National Observatory of Human Rights
November 26, 2021
Good afternoon,
First of all, my thanks to the National Observatory of Human Rights for this cordial invitation to this conversation to talk about this controversial issue in today's Venezuela. Any unsuspecting person could wonder why a National Human Rights Observatory is dealing with an eminently political fact such as what comes after a process such as the one that took place on November 21 in Venezuela; and in passing to summon specialists or people concerned with the electoral fact to discuss this. However, after a brief reading of the Preliminary Declaration of the Electoral Observation Mission of the European Union that evidenced, and I quote "the persistent structural deficiencies" of the Venezuelan electoral system, which are by no means casual, one cannot help but wonder at the insistence of continuing to stumble over this stone on the road to achieving Venezuela's freedom (1).
Indeed, the Electoral Observation Mission indicated in its summary things such as, and I quote, "...widely criticized judicial decisions that have affected the level playing field by replacing the executive committees of some parties and handing over their electoral cards to internal factions that used them to run in the elections. In addition, the arbitrary political disqualification of opposition candidates, the widespread use of state resources in the campaign and unequal access to the media are maintained". Or this one that caught my attention: "The three rectors considered close to the government had control of the executive bodies of the CNE, while the other two rectors did not hide from public opinion their dissenting opinions on issues where consensus could not be reached". End of quote: How is it possible that Rectors "close to the government" with control of the whole electoral operation are pointed out and it is not concluded that there was advantageism and open and blatant fraud? (highlighted by us)
Or this other pearl that has been the permanent denunciation in all electoral processes with the regime by those of us who participate in this Forum, and I quote: "The election day was overshadowed by important delays in the opening and closing of the polling stations, and by accusations of coercion of voters. EU observers witnessed the installation of PSUV voter control devices (red points) in all 23 states and the capital district, despite the CNE's explicit prohibition. Throughout the country, except in the state of Amazonas, an abuse of assisted voting was observed. In the municipality of San Francisco (Zulia), one voter died and two others were wounded in a shooting in front of a voting center". End of quote. (highlighted by us)
What are we really talking about here? Of the consistent violation by those who govern in Venezuela of a Human Right established in the first international instrument of its kind, the American Declaration of the Duties and Rights of Man, which preceded the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by 7 months. This Declaration was approved on April 30, 1948, at the Ninth Pan American Conference in Bogota, Colombia. Venezuela was represented at that Conference by its most prominent politician of the time, appointed by then President Romulo Gallegos, Mr. Romulo Betancourt.
In the Report annexed to the Final Draft of the Declaration of the International Rights and Duties of Man, dated December 8, 1947 in Rio de Janeiro, Article XIII, The Right of Suffrage, is highlighted, stating and I quote: "Suffrage being a primordial right in the democratic organization, the basis of which is precisely the faculty of the people to freely choose their representatives and leaders, we emphasize that the article is transcendental, but it will be worthless if it is not faithfully fulfilled, if in reality a mechanism is not created that faithfully registers the will of the people, if the governments and statesmen of America do not strive to improve political customs and if their repeated proposals and declarations in favor of democracy are not accompanied by a tenacious effort to ensure that in practice the democratic system is applied and respected, as well as constantly perfected". End of quote. (2) (emphasis added)
But that is not what has happened because this right has been criminally trampled upon. This right has been worthless because it has not been complied with - much less loyally - by the regime; and this non-compliance has been complicitly tolerated by the political opposition, especially when they have made use of technologies that, with the excuse of giving fidelity to the system, in reality have deliberately distorted and twisted the popular will in favor of the regime and its criminals.
This infamous use of technology since 2004, when it was used for the first time to consolidate Hugo Chávez Frías in power through a recall referendum, which later mathematics have proven to be fraudulent, has eroded year after year the trust that Venezuelan voters have traditionally had in electoral processes. The 21N is nothing more than the consequence of that reality where Venezuelans are not willing to continue tolerating voting but not electing, because the system is a main instrument to strengthen the tyranny of Nicolás Maduro Moros and his criminals.
Hence, civil society insists on the compliance with the judgment of the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Legitimate Justice of June 13, 2018, whose main protagonist, Adriana Vigilanza is with us today, and which declared, and I quote, "NULL AND INAPPLICABLE the use of the automated voting and scrutiny system that currently exists in Venezuela for the election of positions of popular representation of the public powers, as well as for the holding of referendums, in the terms indicated in Article 293. 5 of the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela", and ordered the National Electoral Council (CNE), as the governing body of the electoral processes, ".... the DEPURIFICATION AND UPDATING of the National Electoral Registry, making the necessary corrections regarding the identity of each Venezuelan citizen or foreigner entitled to vote, as well as the design and implementation of a voting and scrutiny system that is fundamentally manual, where the use of technology and information technology is auxiliary and only for the benefit of the celerity, publicity, transparency and efficiency of the vote, scrutiny and totalization, without this implying any limitation of the right of participation of the voters and of the political parties or organizations, in full guarantee of the public trust in the exercise of the suffrage". End of quote. This sentence has been openly and artfully ignored by both the regime and its opposition. This sentence must be complied with before another electoral process in Venezuela and the International Community will have to understand this sooner rather than later. (emphasis added)
Once again, the regime and its associates of the political opposition will call upon the people as from November 21 to repeat the "feat" of Hugo Chávez Frías in 2004, with a Recall Referendum that will stretch the toxic concubinage of the regime and its political opposition until 2024. Needless to say that Venezuela will once again reject this event with its absence, even though the regime will end up financing this initiative and will have someone to accompany it.
What should Venezuelans do in view of this situation? What are the proposals following this 21N, a date where the message of rejection of the citizens was clear and forceful? Personally, I have consistently maintained that in the absence of political representation, Venezuelans must go to the source of all public powers, which is none other than the will of Venezuelans, and that the Venezuelan people should decide.
That the political solution for Venezuelans is not through an "election of positions" neither of President nor of Parliamentarians, completely devalued by a destroyed institutionality after more than 20 years of devastation, but through the election of constituent representatives, with an international electoral arbiter to be negotiated with the International Community, without the intervention of any Venezuelan Public Power. That would be the only sense of a negotiation with the regime for the lifting of international sanctions.
In this way, not only the Gordian knot of Maduro and his thieves would be solved, but also a new institutional framework for Venezuela would be discussed based on a project for the country, the designation for a necessary term of a Transition Government that would lead Venezuelans to an election of legitimate public powers within the framework of a new Constitutional text.
Is this a delusion resulting from more than 20 years of tyranny? I do not think so. However, it is necessary the political will of true opposition representatives, who really want a solution for Venezuela, and that is precisely what we lack and desperately need. I must point out without pettiness that I believe that any initiative aimed at replacing the characters that have represented us so far with a lamentable balance of scandalous failures, is necessary and must be discussed. The need for a new political leadership is already an unquestionable reality in Venezuela.
As long as prestigious organizations of the International Community such as the European Union continue to support and insist on the continued use of an electoral system such as the Venezuelan one, completely denaturalized in its purposes, the Venezuelan people's Right to Suffrage will continue to be trampled upon, in a sort of endless vicious circle. New circles must be created, this time virtuous ones, to break this tragic monotony. Otherwise there will be no need to wonder what will happen after an election date in Venezuela because tragically we will know the answer...
Thank you very much,
Caracas, November 26, 2021
Blog: https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
Instagram: @laguana01
Telegram: https://t.me/TICsDDHH
Referencias
1.- Declaración Preliminar de la Misión de Observación Electoral de la Unión Europea en Venezuela, 2021. https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/declaracion_preliminar_venezuela_2021_final_es.pdf
2.- 60 Años de las Declaraciones Internacionales de los Derechos Humanos, compilador Juan Jose Caldera, Universidad MonteAvila-Fundación Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, 2008. ISBN 978-980-12-3530-9
(*) Luis Manuel Aguana es Directivo de ANCO, Alianza Nacional Constituyente Originaria, Doctor en Estudios del Desarrollo, MSc en Economía Internacional y Licenciado en Computación de la Universidad Central de Venezuela, UCV.
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