Maduro opts for radicalization with the appointment of Diosdado

When in the middle of this week a month had passed since the questioned presidential victory of Nicolas Maduro In the elections of July 28 in Venezuela, the crisis was compounded a reshuffle in the Government cabinet that gives greater prominence to the implacable number two of Chavismo, Diosdado Cabello, a new blackout that left thousands of people without electricity and threats from the Attorney General’s Office to arrest the opposition leader Edmundo González.

All this seems to further increase the uncertainty of the political and social situation in the neighbouring country, where the recent moves by Chavismo are reminiscent of the same political practices introduced by Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, or the Castro regime in Cuba. In fact, NGOs believe that Cabello’s arrival at the Interior Ministry could aggravate repression in the country.

The president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Roberta Clarke, in fact, gave a dark outlook on Wednesday before the plenary session of the Organization of American States (OAS) after denouncing human rights abuses, repression, total impunity and state terrorism in Venezuela during this post-electoral period.

Maduro and his allies in government are adamant about not handing over power after January 10, 2025, when a constitutionally mandated transition is due. They have also ignored the opposition and the citizens who protested this week after María Corina Machado called for a third citizen mobilization to demand recognition of González’s victory, which – they say – is supported by the electoral records they collected during the election day, but which the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) refuse to reveal.

Meanwhile, Chavismo is clinging to the idea that the world has won the presidential election despite a wave of pressure from the United States, the European Union and 11 Latin American countries calling for a democratic transition.

Maduro even took advantage of this week to hold a new summit of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples (ALBA) in which it became clear how the region is being reconfigured through Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuelaand with a Bolivia that applauds. That day, Ortega, furious, He questioned the position of the presidents of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, and of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silvawho called for transparency in the election results. “Dragged,” Ortega told Petro, who responded by assuring him that at least he, as president of Colombia, did not drag human rights.

Wave of repression

But beyond the accusations, The dangerous thing, especially for those living in Venezuela, is to normalize the repressive practices, threats and intimidation that Cuba and Nicaragua have been developing and perfecting for years.

In one month, Maduro has imprisoned 2,500 people, something almost unprecedented in the 21st century, accusing them of terrorism. This number includes more than 100 children who are now sharing cells with common prisoners.

“I ask common prisoners to take care of these children,” said opposition member María Corina Machado on the day that marked one month since the elections, and that the dissidents showed with more than 24,000 minutes that the winner was González, with 7,303,480 votes, and the second was Maduro, with 3,316,142 votes.

By the way, earlier this week, the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, took over as Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace. That is, he practically has control over the entire population in terms of security, police and migration. For human rights defenders, Cabello’s arrival, although he already represents Chavismo, could be a message that Maduro is seeking further radicalization.

However, a source who prefers to remain anonymous said that for now no one is talking or mediating with Maduro. “Neither Petro nor Lula, and that is very serious, but not because the countries do not want it, but because he (Maduro) is isolated and that is why we must continue trying to build bridges so that he is not a dictator after January 10,” explained this person. In addition, in the last week alone at least four opposition leaders have been imprisoned: Perkins Rocha, Machado’s lawyer; Biaggio Pillieri, coordinator of the Convergencia party and ally of Machado; Jesús Pillieri, youth leader and son of Biaggio, and Nélida Sánchez, national training coordinator of the Súmate organization, in charge of electoral issues.

So, while with the victory of Petro, Lula and Gabriel Boric – president of Chile – it was believed that the left in Latin America would be strengthened and configured as a political project, today it seems that this is not the case.

For Venezuelan analyst Mariano de Alba, Before the presidential elections, this realignment was already taking place on the Latin American left, as Colombia and Brazil have been critical of Nicaraguan authoritarianism.

“And now they don’t like anything they see the Maduro government doing, but they believe that there could still be room to promote negotiations in Venezuela. So maintaining that channel of communication with Maduro is what is setting the agenda,” De Alba believes, unlike other sources consulted by this newspaper.

In the midst of these consultations, The Weather He raised some questions to a source in Bogotá with knowledge of the negotiations about how the talks between Petro and Maduro were going and the situation in general. The source only responded: “It’s getting complicated.”

However, Mariano de Alba believes that the neighbours are clinging to the hope of negotiations. “If we get to January 10, it is likely that Brazil and Colombia will not recognise Maduro’s new term in office and will seek to maintain a limited diplomatic relationship.”

According to Nastassja Rojas Silva, a professor at the Universidad Javeriana, there is no reason to doubt that Caracas is taking on a dictatorial role similar to that of Managua. “That has already happened. It happened between July 28 and 29 when Maduro was announced as the winner without evidence.”

And, leaving aside the electoral element, Rojas Silva emphasizes what this entails: the closure of civic space by invalidating civil society organizations, widespread repression at levels prior to the crisis, forced disappearances, the control and cancellation of passports and the announcement that no other party can participate in elections. “These are acts that provide more than enough evidence that this is a totalitarian regime.”

And the analyst adds that “The appointment of Maduro’s new cabinet is a clear message that Chavismo is not negotiating and will continue to harden.”

Given this situation, Machado warned of the regime’s intention to imprison González under the pretext that the opposition leader did not appear at the summons issued by the Prosecutor’s Office, in which he is accused of usurpation of functions and forging documents.

However, Machado is confident that the regime will be “forced to give in.” She said this in front of hundreds of people who accompanied her on the streets on August 28 to continue demanding victory. The opposition leader is also convinced that the negotiations have not begun, but “the transition has (…), and on January 10, 2025, Edmundo González will be sworn in as the new president of Venezuela.”

As for the blackouts, the government denounced an alleged sabotage, the attack of which took place at the Guri hydroelectric plant, according to Maduro. However, the Venezuelan president refused to go into details.

Blackouts have been a frequent occurrence in Venezuela for a decade, and experts link them to a lack of investment, incompetence and corruption.