Elections in Venezuela

Enough of Maduro’s Authoritarian Playbook in Venezuela

What happened on Sunday, July 28th, will go down in history. Despite massive obstacles and challenges, Venezuela’s united opposition achieved an overwhelming victory. Presidential candidate Edmundo González won the election with 67 percent of the vote, while Nicolás Maduro received only 30 percent (with 83.5% of the votes counted so far). The opposition mobilized over a million volunteers to record and monitor the election results, and they were more prepared than ever before. The election results were promptly published on the platform resultadosconvzla.com. Unfortunately, many important democratic voices from the international community were not allowed to observe the election. González reaped the fruits of years of hard work by liberal opposition leader María Corina Machado, who won the opposition primaries in October 2023 but was barred from holding political office through a political maneuver by the Maduro regime. Machado and the democratic opposition supported Edmundo González as their unity candidate.

Rigged Election, Repression, and Bloody Consequences in Venezuela

Aware of his defeat, Nicolás Maduro ordered the electoral authority under his control to declare his victory without releasing any election results. The Carter Center confirmed that the presidential elections did not meet international standards for electoral integrity and cannot be considered democratic. Following this announcement, Maduro escalated repression, following the playbook of authoritarian regimes. His threat of a "bloodbath" in the event of an electoral loss was quickly realized. So far, 23 deaths have been reported, along with hundreds of injuries and disappearances. According to Venezuelan authorities, about 2,000 people are in custody. Despite the increasing repression, the streets of Caracas, Mérida, Barinas, and Táchira remain loud and more determined than ever, demanding: Freedom, Libertad!

Many Venezuelans believe that this fateful election is their homeland's last hope. With nothing left to lose, about four million more Venezuelans are prepared to leave their homes and families in search of better living conditions elsewhere—almost 8 million have already left their country. Many of them will head to the United States, while others will seek refuge in neighboring regions if there is no change in Venezuela. It is a shame and a tragedy that a wealthy country like Venezuela is losing its human capital on such a scale, leaving those who remain behind in one of Latin America’s worst humanitarian crises. However, enough is enough!

The International Community Must Hear the Calls to End the Dictatorship

The Venezuelan people have decided that the González-Machado duo should lead Venezuela’s future. For this reason, they appeal to the military to stand on the right side of history: "You have a chance, and that time is now," Machado emphasized. In few cases in modern Latin American history has it been so clear which side is the right one, as in this case. Early signs already point in this direction, but decisive recognition of the newly elected president by the international community could accelerate this process. After a week in which the Maduro-loyal electoral authority ignored all calls to make the election records accessible and fully count the votes, it is high time for the European Union to recognize the overwhelming victory of Edmundo González as Venezuela's elected president. Only then can a peaceful and democratic transition be supported.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized that "given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election." It is now "time for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful, peaceful transition in accordance with Venezuelan electoral law and the wishes of the Venezuelan people."

Furthermore, the U.S. government is aware that increasing migration flows could create difficulties for the Democrats in their campaign. Images of thousands of migrants at the Mexican border would be problematic for Vice President Harris, who has been tasked with addressing the root causes of migration.

The Maduro regime’s new attempts to buy time through arbitrary maneuvers while simultaneously launching criminal investigations against González and Machado are disgraceful. But enough is enough. Now, the international community must hear the calls to end the dictatorship. The fight for the return to democracy "will be fought to the end." This is not only Machado’s slogan #HastaElFinal (Until the End), but also the conviction of the overwhelming majority of Venezuelans, both at home and abroad. The international community should use all diplomatic means until the end to take action against this authoritarian regime, which, as Maduro recently threatened, intends to send dissidents to reeducation camps. Enough is enough!