By LISZT VIEIRA*
In Venezuela, although repressed, the right-wing opposition is tolerated and competes in the presidential election, but I wouldn't put my hand in the fire for one or the other: everything has to be proven
1.
As expected, both the government and the opposition won the election in Venezuela. Neither side would accept defeat, it was known beforehand. According to the official result, current president Maduro won with 51% of the votes. This is perfectly possible, just as the opposite would also be possible. As every losing candidate says he won and that there was fraud, this has to be proven. See the examples of Donald Trump in the USA and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil.
Venezuela is a military regime with a civilian façade. I call it authoritarian democracy. I don't call it a dictatorship because it has never been proven that there was fraud in a presidential election. And there is opposition. But there are allegations of torture, censorship and political persecution.
In Venezuela there is right-wing opposition, repressed, but it continues to exist. The opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, is far right. Her candidacy was blocked, but she was not arrested without evidence, as happened with Lula in Brazilian democracy. According to what I read, she signed the Madrid Charter, which brought together fascists from Europe and Latin America.
She is from Jair Bolsonaro and Javier Milei's group. Her presence in Venezuelan politics would be comparable to imagining Marighela as an opposition candidate for president during the military dictatorship. During the Brazilian dictatorship, the left was not tolerated, to say the least. In Venezuela, although repressed, the right-wing opposition is tolerated and competes in the presidential election.
The curious thing is that Venezuela is considered left-wing because the military did not want to hand over the oil to American companies. But the economic policy is neoliberal, there is enormous social inequality and, to survive, around 20% of the population emigrated to other countries.
In the 2015 parliamentary elections, the opposition won with 7,7 million votes, while the government supporters had 5,6 million. The results were recognized and no one spoke of fraud. As exiles in other countries, in large numbers, were unable to vote, this favored the candidate Nicolás Maduro. I don't know if there was fraud, but it has to be proven. I wouldn't put my hand in the fire, whether in favor of the government or the opposition. Allegations of human rights violations, such as torture, also need to be proven.
2.
President Lula's international advisor, Ambassador Celso Amorim, pressured President Nicolás Maduro to release the electoral records. Brazil has not yet officially recognized Nicolás Maduro's victory in the presidential election. Meanwhile, it was announced that Venezuela has decided to expel diplomats from countries that contested Nicolás Maduro's victory and will withdraw diplomatic personnel from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
But there is also a geopolitical issue. The Venezuelan government was sanctioned by the American government, the Treasury and the State Department. And it suffers a siege from the USA. It is true that, after 11 years in power, Nicolás Maduro is facing wear and tear, more due to “material fatigue” due to economic failure than for ideological reasons. As is the case everywhere, the majority of the electorate does not vote for ideological reasons. By winning, if he actually won, Nicolás Maduro shows that, with all the noise from the opposition in the media, the government has a majority.
Honestly, it may never be clear whether there was fraud or not. But there is a way to resolve this definitively. If by chance the Venezuelan military decides to make agreements with American oil companies, Venezuela would immediately become an example of democracy and no one would ever question the result of the election again. See the case of Saudi Arabia, the most bloodthirsty dictatorship in the world and treated as a democracy by the media in general.
Thus, we would once again have in Venezuela “Pax Americana” and everything would be resolved. Amen!
*Liszt scallop is a retired professor of sociology at PUC-Rio. He was a deputy (PT-RJ) and coordinator of the Global Forum of the Rio 92 Conference. Author, among other books, of Democracy reactsGaramond). [https://amzn.to/3sQ7Qn3]
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