Alejandro Peña Esclusa is an engineer, writer, analyst, and political advisor. A pioneer of the first protests in his country against the left-wing Chavista regime, he was imprisoned for a year in El Helicoide (a prison notorious for its torture) and is now a political exile. An expert on the Sao Paulo Forum and the influence of cultural Marxism, he is the author of several books on these subjects.
In an August commentary on the Venezuelan presidential election for The European Conservative, Peña Esclusa wrote:
Everyone knows that in the face of the most difficult obstacles, the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez obtained an overwhelming victory [over socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro] by more than 37 points, as evidenced by 83% of the official tally sheets, which are available for anyone who wants to see them at www.resultadosconvzla.com.
In this interview we discuss Edmundo González’s sudden departure from Venezuela, Spain’s Chavistas, and how this ‘exile’ affects the current situation in the country.
What is your assessment of the sudden departure of Edmundo González from Venezuela?
To understand what is happening, we have to realise that in Venezuela there is no government; there is a criminal organisation in power. To this day, Nicolás Maduro has a U.S. arrest warrant hanging over his head for being the head of the ‘Cartel de los Soles’ (Cartel of the Suns). [According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “The Cartel’s name refers to the sun insignias affixed to the uniforms of high-ranking Venezuelan military officials. Maduro … and the other charged Cartel members abused the Venezuelan people and corrupted the legitimate institutions of Venezuela—including parts of the military, intelligence apparatus, legislature, and the judiciary”—Ed.]. Therefore, the logic of what is happening in Venezuela cannot be applied to a government, but to a criminal structure that acts like a mafia. In the case of Edmundo González, there has reportedly been pressure, coercion, and threats, and it seems that his family is still being threatened. This is the key to understanding what happened.
Where does opposition leader María Corina Machado stand now that Edmundo González has left?
The international Left is acting to ensure Maduro’s stay in power. The first step was taken by some members of the Sao Paulo Forum: Lula da Silva, López Obrador and Gustavo Petro, who mobilised after Edmundo González’s landslide victory to ask Maduro for the results when María Corina Machado had already published them. This gave Maduro time to establish a reign of terror, to persecute, murder, torture and imprison opponents, as well as to locate Edmundo González and his family and, in the second stage of the plan, to force him to leave the country under precarious conditions.
María Corina Machado has said that she will stay in Venezuela and that it all comes down to one thing: Edmundo González won the elections and Maduro lost them. Edmundo’s departure does not change that, although María Corina Machado’s own situation is now more precarious.
Before González, we saw what happened with Juan Guaidó and the failure of the opposition to defeat Maduro. Can this situation, apart from making María Corina Machado more vulnerable, weaken the fighting spirit of Venezuelans?
This is a very different case because Guaidó never won an election, he was elected by parliament. Unlike Guaidó, Edmundo González won, although it was an election controlled by the regime. He is an elected president, and that is a completely different scenario. What has also been shown is the enormous resilience of the Venezuelan people in the face of all the setbacks. What we need is the accompaniment and support of the international community, regardless of what socialists like Borrell and Zapatero say, and pressure on the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Maduro and his allies.
In Spain, the Socialist Party is using the departure of Edmundo González to whitewash the image of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and present him as a neutral mediator.
Zapatero played this role in the departure of Edmundo González because he is part of the structure of Nicolás Maduro and the Sao Paulo Forum. He is not neutral, and it is well-known that he works for them. By forcing Edmundo González into exile, Zapatero and his collaborators wanted to break the fighting spirit of the Venezuelan people and reverse the electoral defeat they suffered. They have not succeeded, the only thing they have achieved is to demonstrate that we are facing a criminal regime, because the information about how Edmundo’s departure was forced is another element against Maduro and his allies to accuse them of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court. They have shown the criminal nature of the regime.
There are ministers in Spain who call themselves ‘Chavistas’ and openly support Maduro. Why did Edmundo González choose Spain and not another country?
Edmundo González had no alternative for two reasons. Firstly, because a logical and natural alternative, which would have been Argentina, has been made impossible by the rupture of relations with Milei, leaving those who are in its embassy trapped, as is the case of the six members of the María Corina team who are there at the moment. In other words, it is dangerous to go to an embassy that is in conflict with the regime. Secondly, although we do not have all the details, we should remember that there have been all kinds of threats and coercion, and that part of Edmundo González’s family is still in Venezuela and could be considered hostages. This situation is extremely complicated because we are dealing with the behaviour of a criminal organisation towards the president-elect and his family.
Today the Spanish parliament will vote on whether to recognise Edmundo González as president of Venezuela. How important is international recognition? Can it make a difference, or is it too late?
As María Corina Machado says, this is the moment to recognise Edmundo González as president of Venezuela. The truth is that he won, and this should not be presented as a political decision, as the socialist Josep Borrell has done. It is a technical decision, not a political one. If on 29 July the world had recognised Edmundo González as president, the scenario would have been different, but Lula, Obrador, Petro, Zapatero, Borrell and the international Left bought time and gave Maduro oxygen. This is what led to Edmundo’s departure.
What should the international community do? Just ask yourself who won the elections. Edmundo González won, there is nothing more to talk about. He is the president-elect.
