Elections in Venezuela

What's Next for Venezuela?

After the July 28 elections, the regime of the dictator Nicolás Maduro has clung to power, self-proclaiming victory in the presidential race without presenting any evidence to support his win. On the other hand, the opposition, led by María Corina Machado and Edmundo González, the unity presidential candidate, has published 83.5% of the vote records online, showing González as the winner with 67% of the votes.

Maduro's regime has not presented the voting tallies, a faculty of National Electoral Council. On Thursday, August 22, the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) validated the results presented by the regime, even though both institutions have been labeled as biased by the UN. This ruling was rejected by 11 countries in the Americas.

However, more than a month later, there is no negotiation between the opposition and the regime for a peaceful transition. What’s next for the opposition’s democratic struggle? On August 28, marches have been called to fight against repression and the disregard for the July 28 results.

Meanwhile, Maduro increasingly isolates himself from the Western world, receiving support from a network of dictatorships such as Russia, China, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Iran, which have recognized his victory and sent military personnel and mercenaries to Venezuela. At the same time, international pressure is intensifying: 22 countries from the European Union and Latin America have demanded transparency in the election results, and the UN has declared that the results do not meet the standards required to be credible.

In this context, the possibility of a peaceful transition seems distant. The regime has been arresting opposition members, with María Corina Machado reporting that 2,500 people have been arbitrarily detained. These detentions are part of Operation “Knock knock" targeting all levels of society, from protest participants to local politicians like Fredy Superlano, and even today Vente Venezuela's attorney, Perkins Rocha was also arbitrarily detained.There is no clear pattern regarding age, gender, or income. Many of these illegal arrests have been captured on video and shared on social media, marking an unprecedented wave of violence and repression.

The opposition has responded peacefully with protests in Venezuela and around the world. On Saturday, August 17, demonstrations were held in over 350 cities globally, attended by exiled Venezuelans. The numbers are striking: more than 15,000 people participated in Madrid, and thousands more in Mexico, New York, Colombia, and many other cities around the world.

However, although María Corina Machado has stated that this fight will continue until the end, pressure is needed both inside and outside Venezuela to remove Maduro's regime. Latin American leaders cannot ignore the Venezuelan situation. While some leftist governments have abstained in OAS votes (with the exception of Chile, which has called for electoral transparency), the consequences of "washing their hands" will manifest in two ways: the increase of the Venezuelan diaspora—according to UNHCR, more than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left their country, and this number could multiply if repression continues—and the strengthening of new dictatorial governments, which could "infect" a region where almost every country experienced a dictatorship at some point in the 20th century.

As Karl-Heinz Paqué, chairman of the board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, said: "We reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people! The people want to close the chapter of Bolivarian socialism. Negotiations must begin that lead to a genuine transition so that Venezuela can become a liberal democracy, based on freedom, justice, and human dignity. This is the great desire in Venezuela.

What happens in Venezuela concerns all of us as democrats. The world is currently preoccupied with many crises, but this is precisely what Maduro is counting on. We cannot let this calculation succeed.”

We cannot abandon Venezuela; we cannot allow the situation to drag on, as this will only benefit Maduro to the detriment of millions of Venezuelans who long to reunite with their mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons. We will keep on demanding Edmundo Gonzalez's victory to be recognised by the international community. Let’s pave the way for democracy in Venezuela!