MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Electoral retaliation in Venezuela

“If someday the circumstance of taking up arms comes, we would do it. I would not shake my pulse to summon him. ”Maduro added after supporting the announcement of the Constituent Assembly.

The elections are not ordered or decreed, they are called. And is that the Venezuelan regime, with this new nonsense, does nothing but reveal the murder, not only of people who think differently in such atrocious ways as executing them extrajudicially -with a complete army against half dozen of people- to silence and chastise, but also murder of fundamental democratic and republican principles while trampling the country's constitution.

 And, while the headlines do not stop talking about the film operation in which it was “dismantled” and executed the rebel group of former agent Oscar Pérez, despite the insistent public announcements of surrender, the regime took advantage the individual sanctions imposed by the European Union against some Chavist leaders to repeat their well-worn speech about the imperial attacks against the people of Venezuela, only now their threat was not as rhetorical as usual.

Now the retaliation used to counter international opinion is to declare early elections; Diosdado Cabello - one of those sanctioned by the EU - announced that the National Constituent Assembly decided, unanimously, that the elections would be carried out within the next few weeks, before April 30. He was preceded by President Nicolás Maduro, who celebrated ”If (the decision) were in my hands would make the elections on Sunday“ and is that in theory we would have to wait for the National Electoral Council -true charge of announcing and organizing elections- announced the date, but that does not matter in the parallel political universe that is Venezuela. In the statements, Maduro said that they would achieve a great electoral victory. The satrap added: ”Here neither Trump nor Santos nor Rajoy will decide. Mariano Rajoy, put yourself in four paticas (get on all fours) that we are going to give you a fuck”. Maduro ended up remembering that they would resort to arms if necessary, in order to defend the Bolivarian Revolution.

The announcement leaves the weakening Opposition very badly, which despite criticism, continues to negotiate in the Dominican Republic despite having been mocked with the most important point of the agenda, the elections. Point that they were discussing in the last sessions so that the elections -which should be at the end of 2018- were transparent and fair.

It turns out that legally there is no date defined in the constitution that indicates the conduct of these elections; the only thing that is clear is that the presidential band must be delivered on January 10, 2019 (article 231 of the Constitution). However, the principles of legal certainty and transparency advise that the call for elections be carried out sufficiently in advance to be able to adequately define its rules, which, according to article 298 of the Constitution, cannot be modified at least six months before the election.

Among opposition leaders there is a great confusion. ”What should be a democratic announcement, here is announced as reprisal (...) Whether the sanctions are applied or lifted, the act itself cannot be used as a kind of retaliation to convene the elections, that is the definitive message of Diosdado Cabello.“ Said the opposition deputy and possible presidential candidate Henry Ramos Allup.

The international consequences have been several. Mexico withdrew from the dialogue table in the Dominican Republic while the Colombian ambassador in Caracas was definitively withdrawn; the Lima Group announced from Santiago de Chile ”We reject the decision to call presidential elections. (...) This decision makes democratic, transparent and credible elections impossible. (...) We demand that they be convened with the participation of independent international observers.“ US government adhered to this opinion.

According to Der Spiegel, Maduro is a ”butcher”. And his regime no longer repairs discretion regarding public decisions. Apparently, there is no clear or peaceful way out for Venezuelans who want a change. Vote or not vote? That is the dilemma that the hungry Venezuelans are asking themselves, which according to unofficial surveys go from 85% to those who are not in agreement with the current regime. If they vote, would they legitimize a fraudulent electoral council? In addition to knowing the recent past, which involves suspiciously fraudulent results, changes at the last minute the voting centers in opposition zones only 30 weeks ago or the delay and suspension of the Recall Referendum. And if they do not vote, they would still be abandoning the last democratic instance that remains. This is how things are going on at the land where Orwellian fantasies have become part of reality, while millions pass through borders, without knowing where to go.

By Sebastián Astorga.