The countdown began. Five days separate Venezuela from the most relevant electoral event in its recent history. Venezuelans know everything that is at stake starting Sunday. It has never been more important to hold elections that, although openly undemocratic, allow the population to express themselves. The State is obliged to ensure the peaceful development of this process and to generate the political conditions to respect and enforce the sovereign decision that emanates from the polls.
Unfortunately, the government has shown signs of willingness to violate the election. To the official statements that “a different government would not last even a year in power” and the meeting of governors with various “colectivos” to “guarantee peace and a resounding victory for Nicolás Maduro”, is added the threat of Maduro himself announcing that, if he loses re-election, the country could “fall into a bloodbath, into a civil war.” The IACHR issued a statement condemning this type of speech that has “the effect of intimidating and restricting the political freedom of the electorate” and that calls into question an eventual transfer of command given the possibility of a result favorable to the opposition. As the IACHR has monitored, “as the presidential elections approach, there is a setback and failure to comply with the guarantees for the exercise of civil and political rights.”
The novelty is that the Venezuelan population insists on the electoral route despite its non-democratic nature and the government’s sustained efforts to violate it with greater repression since the beginning of the year. If the country still clings to an electoral alternative, there is a message that the State must pay attention to: the conviction of a peaceful transition. Sunday provides a historic opportunity for the government to pave the way for a transition within the framework of the rule of law. That is why from now on the dilemma is real and the government must choose either between the Constitution and the democratic changes that the country demands or ignore the popular will and pave the way for an unpredictable, but not peaceful, outcome. In any case, the responsibility will be exclusively that of whoever holds the monopoly of force, which is the State and its officials.
The main call is to the armed forces in whose hands is the Republic Plan (military logistical operation for the elections). The armed forces are days away from accompanying an electoral process in the midst of an investigation for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court and the intensive monitoring of human rights protection organizations such as the IACHR, the Fact-Finding Mission, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. What happens after July 28, and even before, starts to be the responsibility of its high command, especially if new human rights violations arise due to possible fraud. The armed forces also have the opportunity to function, as required by article 328 of the Constitution, as an “essentially professional institution, without political militancy, organized by the State to guarantee the independence and sovereignty of the Nation (…)”.
Any institution and high-ranking official of the State that believes in democracy must retrace the path of violence that the government has tried to install and prevent any attempt to postpone or ignore the elections. It’s time for definitions. There is no more room to repress a population that has already assumed that the transition in Venezuela has begun. The proposal to move towards a different scenario from that of a democratic transition in accordance with the Constitution and the full guarantee of human rights will surely bring worse consequences for everyone.
Beyond the fact that several countries accuse Venezuela of having violated the Bardados Agreements, Brazil has maintained a space for dialogue and finally will send a technical observation to the elections. Colombia would be evaluating it. Both countries could play an important role as containment factors and contribute to the peaceful development of the elections, opening opportunities for subsequent negotiations. It must be kept in mind that the electoral moment is not about one day or several ones but about a process, so it is advisable to maintain the greatest proximity to create incentives and guarantees for the democratic transition. It is another country that will begin to describe itself from July 28.
AlertaVenezuela asks the international community to issue statements supporting the holding of peaceful elections and respect for the popular will on Sunday, July 28. Likewise, intensifying their efforts to monitor and report the human rights situation during these days, keeping the focus at least until January 2025, when the new president-elect must be sworn in and developing a registry of those civil and military officials who intend to ignore the mandate of the majority. These days are key to dissuading the government from venturing into an option other than the transfer of command and the effective implementation of agreements for the reconstruction of democracy.