Massive Protests Erupt Again Over Disputed Venezuelan Elections – But They Look Different This Time by Rebecca Hanson and Verónica Zubillaga
July 29, 2024
Introduction:
(The Conversation) Post-election protests are far from uncommon in Venezuela. In 2018, people took to the streets to contest President Nicolás Maduro’s reelection; they did so again in 2019 when the Venezuelan opposition proclaimed National Assembly representative Juan Guaidó as interim president in defiance of a vote they said was rigged.
It isn’t surprising, then, that there have been widespread demonstrations in the country after Maduro claimed victory again, this time over challenger Edmundo González in the disputed election held July 28, 2024.
Many in the country had viewed the vote as a chance to avoid six more years of “Chavismo” – a political project Maduro inherited from former president and left-wing populist Hugo Chávez. Since 2013, Maduro has led the country while it has faced a severe economic crisis, resulting from a combination of falling oil prices, corruption and mismanagement, and international sanctions. The crisis has resulted in massive inflation and food shortages, with the majority of the population facing the choice of living in poverty or leaving the country.
But the current protests – sparked by the disputed election results but fomented by years of economic crisis – look different. From our analysis of news reports, social media and the protests themselves, it appears they involve a wider segment of society than in the past, and include many poor and working-class Venezuelans – the very groups from which Chavismo has traditionally drawn support.
Election Theater in Venezuela: a Tale From Election Day in Caracas by Brian Mier
August 5, 2024
Introduction:
(Counterpunch) I covered Venezuela’s 3-week presidential campaign season, the elections, and their fallout for TeleSur English, the multilateral public TV news network funded by the governments of Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. I am an experienced analyst on Brazilian politics, but I do not claim to be a specialist on Venezuela. The following is not analysis but a description of events I witnessed on election night. I invite readers to use it to help with their own assessments of the political situation.
Additional Extract:
We left the building at 5:50 to position ourselves to cover the closing of the polls. The government had ordered all polling stations to close their doors at 6, but Andre Bello stayed open for another 10 minutes or so to let a few stragglers in to vote – 4 or 5 people tops, including an elderly couple who had problems walking.
When they finally closed the doors, a crowd of around 40 TV crew members and social media videomakers had gathered, with around 30 citizens who stood in front of the doorway and cheered as the doors shut, and a group of around 5 police officers guarding the doors.
Minutes later, a crowd of around 100 people rushed up to the door and started yelling, “Let us vote! Let us vote!” Suddenly, there were live streamers everywhere. An Argentinian coworker pointed out a crew from Argentina’s Javier Milei-aligned Channel 13 that was streaming everything as a dour, conservatively dressed reporter asked crying women and angry-looking men why Nicolas Maduro wouldn’t let them vote.
…
Later that night, when I met up with other journalists covering the election behind Miraflores Palace, I heard similar stories from other polling stations. One journalist told me where she was located, the crowd started yelling, “Shut the doors! Shut the doors!” at 6. As soon as the doors shut, they started yelling, “Let us vote! Let us vote!”
The author says he's no expert, yet automatically jumps to the conclusion that "Maduro good." Furthermore the claims that the election was legitimate contradicts so many other accounts of the situation. You see, there are many ways to rig an election. Why prevent people from voting when you can just falsify the results?
As for the rest of the details, IDK what exactly happened here. It's confusing
Worth noting that there are criminal groups trying to capitalize on the political turmoil, such as the Tren del Llano. Maybe the goons are those guys. IDK
The Latin American Left is Smart Not to Pick a Side over Venezuela’s Contested Election Result by Jordana Timerman
August 5, 2024
Introduction:
(The Guardian) When Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of the Venezuelan presidential election last week, there was an immediate outcry and accusations of fraud. Maduro had trailed significantly in many polls, and the National Electoral Council (CNE) didn’t provide access to voting breakdowns as it is legally required to do.
While much of the rhetoric from Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia’s supporters has been heated, left-leaning governments in the region haven’t come down on either side – despite many longstanding connections with Maduro’s administration. This is a marked shift within the remnants of the “pink tide” of leftist governments that dominated Latin American countries in the noughties may provide a way through the crisis, and achieve a democratic transition in Venezuela.
The governments of Brazil, Colombia and Mexico have led many other nations in demanding electoral authorities release voting tallies for each electronic voting machine, but they have abstained from accusing Maduro of wrongdoing – they have not used the term “fraud” or denounced the Venezuelan regime’s unacceptable post-election human rights violations. They are apparently hoping to get Venezuela’s government and opposition parties back to the negotiating table.
This is perhaps the most high-profile example of the mediating role Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, seeks on the world stage, and a demonstration of what his “active nonalignment” diplomacy looks like in practice.
If Lula’s strategy – taken on by the larger bloc – works, it will be a resounding affirmation of his much-misunderstood “third way” diplomatic strategy, which seeks to further the economic concerns of developing countries without picking a side in the great powers conflict in the current global cold war 2.0. It will also be a moral compass in a region where democracy is threatened by backsliding driven by elected leaders. The strategy could serve as an important electoral bulwark against the rise of extreme-right movements that threaten Latin American democracy.
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela’s opposition candidate likely received more than twice as many votes as President Nicolás Maduro in the country’s election last week, according to a Washington Post review of more than 23,000 precinct-level tally sheets collected by the opposition, a sample that represents nearly 80 percent of voting machines nationwide. That conclusion, which echoes the results of independent exit polling and similar independent analyses, offers further evidence against the authoritarian socialist’s claim that he defeated challenger Edmundo González in the July 28 vote.
Venezuela’s national electoral council, which is controlled by Maduro, has declared him the winner, with nearly 52 percent of the vote to González’s 43 percent. But a week after the vote, the council has yet to make precinct-level results to support the claim available to be audited, as required by Venezuelan law. The opposition has published its own results, compiled with the help of thousands of volunteer poll watchers who collected and scanned tally sheets printed out by electronic voting machines on election day at each of the country’s polling centers.
Report Details Best Path Forward to End Political Crisis in Venezuela by Jake Johnson
August 14, 2024
Introduction:
(Comon Dreams) A report released Tuesday by a U.S.-based think tank calls on the Biden administration to support a regional effort to reach a negotiated solution to Venezuela's dangerous political crisis as the country's president and right-wing opposition continue to declare themselves the rightful winners of last month's election.
The new analysis by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) argues that Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia's attempt at mediation and dialogue—not additional economy-crushing sanctions by the U.S. and other Western nations—represents "the best opportunity for bringing about a peaceful resolution of the current crisis."
U.S. sanctions, the report notes, "have taken the lives of tens of thousands of Venezuelans and fueled the migration of millions more." Other "failed policies" include "military coup attempts, such as those that U.S. administrations supported in 2002 and 2019," the report adds.
"Recognizing a parallel government, or imposing more sanctions on Venezuela, will only make the crisis much more difficult to resolve; in fact, these policies helped create the current crisis," CEPR said.
The report comes less than two weeks after the U.S. State Department formally recognized Edmundo González, Venezuela's opposition candidate, as the winner of last month's presidential election over incumbent President Nicolás Maduro, who says he prevailed in the contest that has attracted close scrutiny and calls for transparency from the international community and independent watchdogs.
I disagree with claims that support for parallel governments is undermining democracy. Responsibility for the death of Venezuelan democracy lies squarely with Maduro.
'Very Unpleasant Regime': Fellow Leftist Lula Criticizes Maduro Amid Election Dispute by Edward Carver
August 16, 2024
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a potential mediator in the ongoing electoral dispute in Venezuela, spoke harshly on Friday about the government of President Nicolas Maduro, calling it a "very unpleasant regime" with an "authoritarian slant"—perhaps the first time he has been so publicly critical of his fellow leftist.
Venezuala has been in turmoil since its presidential election on July 28, pitting Maduro against opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, came to a disputed result. The electoral council controlled by Maduro's government announced that he'd won reelection with 51.95% of the vote, but provided no evidence. However, the opposition also claimed victory, and did have some evidence: copies of vote tallies from more than 83% of precincts.
The international response has been broadly anti-Maduro, whose government has been widely accused of human rights violations and is often characterized as autocratic. Many countries—even Chile, led by a left-leaning government—declared fraud on the part of the Venezuelan government, and some, such as the United States, recognized González as the winner. Only a handful of small Latin American countries did so for Maduro.
Lula hasn't take sides in the electoral dispute but, like other international actors, called for Maduro to release the full tallies. Lula and Colombia President Gustavo Petro, another leftist, have indicated they could be intermediaries between the two Venezuelan sides. The U.S. came out in support of the Brazil- and Colombia-led dialogue. But Lula's role as interlocutor didn't stop him from making the critical remarks on Friday.
"I think Venezuela is living under a very unpleasant regime," Lula said on Rádio Gaúcha.
Venezuelan Judge Issues Arrest Warrant for Edmundo González, Opposition’s Former Presidential Candidate September 3, 2024
Introduction:
(AP via NBC) CARACAS, Venezuela — A Venezuelan judge on Monday issued an arrest warrant for the opposition’s former presidential candidate Edmundo González as part of a criminal investigation into the results of the highly anticipated July election that both the ruling party and its opponents claim to have won.
The warrant was issued at the request of authorities who accuse González, a former diplomat, of various crimes including conspiracy, falsifying documents and usurpation of powers. The move is the latest escalation of repression against the opposition in the month after election officials declared President Nicolás Maduro had won a third term in office.
Authorities sought the warrant after González failed to appear three times to answer questions from prosecutors. González, 75, has not made any public appearances since the day after the election. His campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Prosecutors have zeroed in on thousands of tally sheets known as actas — printouts measuring several feet that resemble shopping receipts — that have long been considered the ultimate proof of election results in Venezuela. Each of the 30,000 electronic voting machines used in the July 28 election printed several copies of the sheets, whose information was also transmitted to the National Electoral Council.
Ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared Maduro the victor hours after polls closed, but they did not publish results broken down by voting machine as they had done in previous presidential elections. The National Electoral Council claimed it could not release the detailed information because its website was hacked.
Venezuelan Opposition Leader Gonzalez Lands in Spain Seeking Asylum After Disputed Election by Mauricio Torres, Stefano Pozzebon, Alex Stambaugh, Manuel Cobela, and Pau Mosquera
September 9, 2024
Introduction:
CNN — Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez landed in Madrid on Sunday afternoon, Spain said, after fleeing his home country with an arrest warrant accusing him of terrorism, conspiracy and other crimes related to July’s disputed presidential election.
Gonzalez, his wife and Spanish officials landed at the Torrejon de Ardoz military air base, according to a statement from Spain’s Foreign Ministry. He is now seeking asylum in Spain, CNN understands.
Gonzalez said Sunday his departure from the country came despite “coercion and threats” that he would not be allowed to leave – though he did not make explicit who had made those threats. In an audio note shared with CNN en Español by his press team, Gonzalez said he trusts that “very soon, we will continue the fight for freedom and democracy in Venezuela,” and thanked his followers for their messages of solidarity.
Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab told CNN on Sunday that authorities will close the case against Gonzalez after his departure.
“We, along with Edmundo Gonzalez’s lawyer in the upcoming days will establish the form, time and place to judicially close that case,” he said.
caltrek’s comment: I continue to be distrustful of both sides. Each side continues to pretend that it is the true supporter of democracy while engaging in actions that suggest otherwise. Both sides act like Trump: they accept the outcome as legitimate only if they win. They can usually point to conduct on the other side to make their case. Maduro probably has lost in popularity, but is the opposition willing to honor future election results that do not go their way?
I mean it's pretty well-documented that Maduro lost. Furthermore, I don't think any election under Maduro would be a reliable indicator of popular opinion, as there might come a day where opposition supporters may simply stop turning out because of the unfree nature of the elections; this doesn't mean that people have switched their support to Maduro.
^^^Well, the U.S. government seems to agree with you:
Treasury Targets Venezuelan Officials Aligned with Nicolas Maduro in Response to Alleged Electoral Fraud September 12, 2024
Introduction:
(U.S. Department of the Treasury) WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated 16 Maduro-aligned officials who obstructed a competitive and inclusive presidential election process in Venezuela and violated the civil and human rights of the people. The individuals sanctioned today pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13692, as amended, include leaders of the Maduro-aligned National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice (TSJ) who impeded a transparent electoral process and the release of accurate election results, as well as the military, intelligence, and government officials responsible for intensifying repression through intimidation, indiscriminate detentions, and censorship. The officials were appointed by Nicolas Maduro, whom OFAC sanctioned in 2017.
“Today, the United States is taking decisive action against Maduro and his representatives for their repression of the Venezuelan people and denial of their citizens’ rights to a free and fair election,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo. “The Treasury Department is targeting key officials involved in Maduro’s fraudulent and illegitimate claims of victory and his brutal crackdown on free expression following the election, as the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans call for change. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to use our tools to hold Maduro and his cronies accountable and support the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people.”
Since the July 28 election, Maduro and his representatives have indiscriminately arrested Venezuelans for exercising their political and civil rights and deployed a range of intimidation tactics to silence the opposition. These acts, including the issuance of an arrest warrant for the successful presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia (Gonzalez), which forced him to depart Venezuela to seek asylum in Spain.
Concurrently, the Department of State imposed new visa restrictions under Presidential Proclamation 9931 on Maduro-aligned officials who have undermined the electoral process in Venezuela and are responsible for acts of repression. With these newly imposed visa restrictions, nearly 2,000 individuals have been subject to visa restrictions for their role in undermining democracy, significant corruption, and human rights violations.
Venezuela Rejects New U.S. Sanctions Against 16 Officials by Florantonia Singer
September 12, 2024
Introduction:
(El País) The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry has rejected, “in the strongest terms,” the imposition of new sanctions by the United States Treasury Department against 16 officials accused of cooperating in carrying out electoral fraud in Venezuela. It has called them a “crime of aggression.” “The wrongly called 'sanctions,' which have been shamefully promoted by the fascist right, break and violate the Qatar agreements and seek to impose on an entire country their political intentions of 'regime change' as part of the Monroe Doctrine,” it said in a statement.
By mentioning the Qatar agreements, which the government of Nicolás Maduro made public a few weeks ago, the Chavistas point to the lifting of sanctions that Washington promised to do if there were free and competitive elections. In the official statement, Caracas assures that they will fail in their attempts to surround them diplomatically and that Venezuela will continue “consolidating its participatory and leading democratic process” and “strengthening its ties with other nations that do understand diplomacy, respect and cooperation.”
Tensions in the country's political crisis have increased since opposition candidate Edmundo González was forced into exile in Spain, where the Congress of Deputies asked Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to recognise him as president-elect - which has not yet happened - and he has received him at Moncloa. The head of the Venezuelan Parliament, Jorge Rodríguez, has asked to break relations with the European country although no movement or comment has yet been made from Miraflores.
The Argentine Congress Annuls a Decree by President Milei that Would Have Provided Funds for Intelligence Services by Federico Rivas Molina
September 13, 2024
Introduction:
(El País) Javier Milei has crashed into the Argentine Congress. In a decision unprecedented since the return to democracy in 1983, the Senate overturned in the early hours of this Friday a presidential decree of necessity and urgency (DNU) that granted 100,000 million pesos (about 100 million dollars at the official exchange rate) to the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE) . In the same session, the legislators reversed by law the budget adjustment that the ultra-rightist applies to public universities. These were two very hard blows for the president. Milei has already announced that he will veto by decree the university financing law for attacking his policy of reducing the fiscal deficit. But now he must take note that the opposition, even the one considered "dialogue-oriented", has enough votes in both Houses of Congress to annul the presidential DNU.
It is common for Argentine presidents to use decrees of necessity and urgency to bypass Congress, especially if they are in a minority like Milei. Néstor Kirchner signed 236 DNU in four years of mandate; Carlos Menem, 196 in 10 years; Alberto Fernández, 177 also in four years and Cristina Kirchner 78 decrees in eight years. The liberal Mauricio Macri, an ally of Milei, put his signature on 71 DNU during his four years of government. None of these decrees was annulled by Parliament, until now.
The decree granting extra money to the SIDE had already been rejected by the Chamber of Deputies last August, and the Senate was still waiting to vote, with 49 votes against, 11 in favour and two abstentions. All Peronists, the senators of the Radical Civic Union (UCR) and also those of the Pro, Macri's party, an ally of the Casa Rosada, voted in favour. The former president has raised the price of his parliamentary support, upset with Milei's reluctance to allow Pro officials to enter the government.
In a statement, the President's Office called the senators "irresponsible" for leaving "the Argentine intelligence system without resources at a historic moment for the country." "They will have to take responsibility for any event that occurs until the SIDE is properly funded and can recover its vital capabilities," the statement said. The opposition, on the other hand, fears that Milei will use the intelligence services to persecute opposition politicians and journalists.
Peru’s Ex-president Toledo Gets More Than 20 Years In Prison In Case Linked to Corruption Scandal October 22, 2024
Introduction:
( AP via NPR ) LIMA, Peru — Peru’s former President Alejandro Toledo on Monday was sentenced to 20 years and six months in prison in a case involving Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, which became synonymous with corruption across Latin America, where it paid millions of dollars in bribes to government officials and others.
Authorities accused Toledo of accepting $35 million in bribes from Odebrecht in exchange for allowing the construction of a highway in the South American country. The National Superior Court of Specialized Criminal Justice in the capital, Lima, imposed the sentence after years of legal wrangling, including a dispute over whether Toledo, who governed Peru from 2001 to 2006, could be extradited from the United States.
Judge Inés Rojas said Toledo’s victims were Peruvians who “trusted” him as their president. Rojas explained that in that role, Toledo was “in charge of managing public finances” and responsible for “protecting and ensuring the correct” use of resources. Instead, she said, he “defrauded the state.”
She added that Toledo “had the duty to act with absolute neutrality, protect and preserve the assets of the state, avoiding their abuse or exploitation,” but he did not do so.
Odebrecht, which built some of Latin America’s most crucial infrastructure projects, admitted to U.S. authorities in 2016 to having bought government contracts throughout the region with generous bribes. The investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice spun probes in several countries, including Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador.
Inflation in Chile Reaches 1.0%, the Highest Monthly Variation in Almost Two Years by Maria Victoria Agouborde
November 8, 2024
Introduction:
(El País) The National Institute of Statistics (INE) announced on Friday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for October showed a monthly variation of 1.0%, the highest figure in almost two years. The latest CPI release has surprised analysts, who had expected the variation to be around 0.6% compared to the previous month.
Inflation in the South American country, which has accumulated 4.7% in 12 months, has been strongly affected by the rise in electricity bills that have been recorded in the months of July and October, and a new increase is expected in January 2025. These increases occur in the context of an unfreezing of rates after five years without variations.
In October, the INE reported that nine of the 13 divisions that make up the CPI basket contributed positively to the monthly variation and four presented negative impacts. “Among the divisions that presented increases in their prices, housing and basic services (3.1%) stood out with 0.544 percentage points and food and non-alcoholic beverages (2.2%) with 0.495 percentage points,” the agency said in a statement .
The housing and basic services category registered monthly increases in five of its ten classes. “The most important was electricity supply (18.9%) which had an impact of 0.483 percentage points, while common expenses (5.6%) contributed 0.077 percentage points,” the public entity indicated.
Meanwhile, the food and non-alcoholic beverages category recorded monthly increases in 14 of its 15 classes. Among them, those that suffered the greatest increase were meats (3.8%), followed by fruits and nuts (3.5%). On the other hand, within the 81 products that make up this division, 55 have presented increases in their prices, among them the INE highlighted the increase of potatoes (28.5%).
Resistance Under Pressure: the Colombian Peace Community of San José de Apartadó by Elisa Gratias
December 22, 2024
Introduction:
(Common Dreams) Nature is loud. Unknown animal sounds resound from the darkness as I work on the veranda in the evening. Everything seems so peaceful while the Comunidad de Paz reports the presence of armed people near their private properties La Roncona and La Holandecita. This is exactly where our small women's delegation from Europe is staying—Sabine Lichtenfels, Andrea Phoebe Regelmann, Katharina Müller and I—in the first house after the entrance gate.
Outside our terrace, the lavish abundance of nature. Lush greenery, with the occasional free-roaming horse or chicken on the lawn. There is a latent threat in the air, but not to our lives. The threatened people of the community have learned to live with the daily danger. They occasionally come to visit us, still have a sense of humor, and radiate from within. They have been friends with my fellow travelers from the partner community Tamera in southern Portugal for 19 years. Our presence and reporting on them gives them protection, because the murderers cover up their crimes and attack when no international witness is looking.
Colombia is in utter chaos. The more I hear and read about what is happening here, the more I immerse myself in books about the country, the more perplexed, confused, and disillusioned I remain. According to The System of the Bird: Colombia, a Laboratory of Barbarity by Guido Piccoli, "Violence has not left Colombia since the war of independence against the Spanish." In Colombia, "there is always room for everyone, but equally the possibility of killing each other to no end."
Looking to the future the article concludes:
"What's happening in Colombia of course isn't an isolated phenomenon," (Martin) Winiecki writes. "It's part of an intensifying global clash: empire versus communities, capitalism versus Earth, patriarchy versus Life. This clash plays out in the ever more heartbreaking genocide in Gaza, the accelerating climate breakdown, the rise of far-right authoritarianism and fascism, and more. For life to succeed, we need unbreakable solidarity, recognizing that all struggles are connected, and we also need the power of vision that enables us to create living alternatives."
