On August 17th, a wonderful protest swept the world. Millions of citizens in Venezuela’s main urban centers and in 350 cities around the globe shouted “for the truth” and “against the fraud” of Nicolás Maduro.
Indeed, Maduro perpetrated a massive theft in the July 28th presidential election, as I had anticipated in an article published in The European Conservative a month before the election. Maduro proclaimed himself the winner, without presenting a single proof of his triumph, with the complicity of the National Electoral Council (CNE in Spanish). The fraud was of such magnitude that it amounted to a coup d’état.
But Maduro cannot hide what is obvious. Everyone knows that, in the face of the most difficult obstacles, the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez obtained an overwhelming victory 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.
According to the Washington Post, the UN panel of experts that observed the Venezuelan elections said it reviewed a small, publicly available sample of those documents. The printed receipts at polling stations featured QR codes and signatures of officials and agents, security features that the panel said “appear to be very difficult to be fabricated.”
But despite what has happened, European countries have not taken the necessary step of recognizing Gonzalez as president-elect. So far, they have limited themselves to questioning the results and asking the Venezuelan electoral authorities to present the tally sheets. But this is a request that does not make much sense, given that the CNE is controlled by the Venezuelan regime, as the reports of the Carter Center and the UN panel of experts show.
Waiting to decide until the CNE presents evidence is a strategy designed by Maduro’s allies in the Sao Paulo Forum, among them presidents Lula (Brazil), Gustavo Petro (Colombia), and López Obrador (Mexico), to give oxygen to the Venezuelan regime. For its part, the Spanish left has promoted this same thesis within the European Union.
Waiting for the action of a corrupt and biased CNE is a mistake, because time favors the dictatorship and allows it to instill terror, committing numerous human rights violations, resulting in dead, wounded, tortured, and detained people. In addition, Maduro, affected by the humiliating defeat he suffered, is in a psychotic state of mind and has threatened to harm Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado, who have been forced to go into hiding. Undoubtedly, their lives are in danger.
The question arises: What is the advantage of recognizing Gonzalez as president-elect? The first—and the most obvious—is because he won by an overwhelming margin. If the vote of the citizens does not count, then what is the democratic system for? Second, because the status of president-elect gives Gonzalez indispensable legal and diplomatic protection. And third, because this decision would provoke rifts within Maduro’s inner circle, thus putting an end to the dictatorship. In fact, at the time of this writing, at least five generals have been removed from their posts for refusing to repress the people.
Last but not least, allowing Maduro to stay in power would mean a serious threat to the security of the Western Hemisphere, due to the close ties that the Venezuelan regime maintains with Russia, Iran, Islamic terrorist groups, and drug trafficking cartels. Not to mention the new migratory wave that would be produced.
In view of the above, European countries should disregard the recommendations of Lula and other leftist spokesmen, and assume a firmer and more decisive position, by recognizing Edmundo Gonzalez as president-elect of Venezuela as soon as possible.
Europe Must Recognize Gonzalez as President-Elect of Venezuela
Juan BARRETO / AFP
On August 17th, a wonderful protest swept the world. Millions of citizens in Venezuela’s main urban centers and in 350 cities around the globe shouted “for the truth” and “against the fraud” of Nicolás Maduro.
Indeed, Maduro perpetrated a massive theft in the July 28th presidential election, as I had anticipated in an article published in The European Conservative a month before the election. Maduro proclaimed himself the winner, without presenting a single proof of his triumph, with the complicity of the National Electoral Council (CNE in Spanish). The fraud was of such magnitude that it amounted to a coup d’état.
But Maduro cannot hide what is obvious. Everyone knows that, in the face of the most difficult obstacles, the opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez obtained an overwhelming victory 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.
According to the Washington Post, the UN panel of experts that observed the Venezuelan elections said it reviewed a small, publicly available sample of those documents. The printed receipts at polling stations featured QR codes and signatures of officials and agents, security features that the panel said “appear to be very difficult to be fabricated.”
But despite what has happened, European countries have not taken the necessary step of recognizing Gonzalez as president-elect. So far, they have limited themselves to questioning the results and asking the Venezuelan electoral authorities to present the tally sheets. But this is a request that does not make much sense, given that the CNE is controlled by the Venezuelan regime, as the reports of the Carter Center and the UN panel of experts show.
Waiting to decide until the CNE presents evidence is a strategy designed by Maduro’s allies in the Sao Paulo Forum, among them presidents Lula (Brazil), Gustavo Petro (Colombia), and López Obrador (Mexico), to give oxygen to the Venezuelan regime. For its part, the Spanish left has promoted this same thesis within the European Union.
Waiting for the action of a corrupt and biased CNE is a mistake, because time favors the dictatorship and allows it to instill terror, committing numerous human rights violations, resulting in dead, wounded, tortured, and detained people. In addition, Maduro, affected by the humiliating defeat he suffered, is in a psychotic state of mind and has threatened to harm Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado, who have been forced to go into hiding. Undoubtedly, their lives are in danger.
The question arises: What is the advantage of recognizing Gonzalez as president-elect? The first—and the most obvious—is because he won by an overwhelming margin. If the vote of the citizens does not count, then what is the democratic system for? Second, because the status of president-elect gives Gonzalez indispensable legal and diplomatic protection. And third, because this decision would provoke rifts within Maduro’s inner circle, thus putting an end to the dictatorship. In fact, at the time of this writing, at least five generals have been removed from their posts for refusing to repress the people.
Last but not least, allowing Maduro to stay in power would mean a serious threat to the security of the Western Hemisphere, due to the close ties that the Venezuelan regime maintains with Russia, Iran, Islamic terrorist groups, and drug trafficking cartels. Not to mention the new migratory wave that would be produced.
In view of the above, European countries should disregard the recommendations of Lula and other leftist spokesmen, and assume a firmer and more decisive position, by recognizing Edmundo Gonzalez as president-elect of Venezuela as soon as possible.
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