Chavismo and the opposition tighten the rope in Venezuela: who will win the fight?
On Wednesday, August 28, the first month of the celebration of the presidential elections in Venezuelaelections that were highly contested and which generated massive mobilizations in the country.
In a sign to demonstrate the legitimacy of his re-election, President Nicolás Maduro announced a series of changes in his cabinet on Tuesday for his third term, proclaimed by the National Electoral Council (CNE), despite allegations of fraud by the opposition and questions from the international community.
Despite the reluctance, complaints from observers and international criticism, the Supreme Court of Justice upheld the decision of the electoral body with a ruling that is irrevocable.
The Attorney General’s Office, for its part, opened an investigation against opposition leader María Corina Machado and opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González for the publication of the minutes on a web portal that is not managed by the CNE.
During this process, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has summoned González Urrutia three times, after his refusal on the first two occasions, alleging that there are no procedural guarantees.
This combination of file images created on July 18, 2024 shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro during an event at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on February 20, 2024, and Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia attending a meeting with health workers in Caracas on June 18, 2024. Photo: Federico Parra, AFP
Throughout this time, part of the international community has insisted that the CNE publish the minutes and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has denounced violations of rights and state persecution of opponents.
The IACHR estimates that more than 1,600 people have been arrested and that at least twenty Venezuelans have died as a result of repression since the elections.
But none of this has changed the course of Venezuelan politics. Nicolas Maduro remains president of Venezuela and everything indicates that he will continue in office after the inauguration on January 10, 2025. In fact, this week he made some changes in his cabinet to give more power to two key figures of Chavismo: Diosdado Cabello and Delcy Rodríguez.
Why is the country still without a solution in sight? France 24 invited officials close to the government to discuss these issues, but they refused to participate, and opposition members contacted refused, citing security concerns.
In this edition of El Debate we are joined by two analysts.
-From Bogotá, Ronald F. Rodriguezspokesperson and researcher of the Venezuela Observatory of the Faculty of International, Political and Urban Studies of the Universidad del Rosario and coordinator of the Colombia-Venezuela Radar.
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