Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro threatened a “bloodbath” if the loses the presidential election today, July 28. While some take the warning seriously, others believe it is just meant to instill fear and suppress his rival's voters as finally, after quarter of a century of socialist rule, there seems to be hope for change.
Maduro's comments were meant as a slap in the face for his opponents, especially to Edmundo González Urrutia but also Maria Corina Machado, the candidate who had emerged victorious in the primary elections but whom the government disqualified, so she could not continue in the race in the Presidential election.
The threat by the Bolivarian leader was also picked up by international media and quickly spread around the world raising alarm. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he was “scared” by such a statement.
“I have told Maduro that the only chance for Venezuela to return to normality is to have a widely respected electoral process," Lula told international news agencies as reported by Reuters. “I was scared by Maduro's remarks that Venezuela could face bloodshed if he loses. Maduro needs to learn that when you win, you stay; when you lose, you leave,” he said.
At this point, there is already a risk of a crisis breaking out tonight if Maduro fails to recognize his rival's victory.
Many analysts are anxiously looking at the barracks. When Maduro spoke of a “civil war” in a working-class neighborhood of Caracas on July 17, he did nothing more than remind the people that the political problem also concerns the Armed Forces. They play an important role as de facto co-government as they control and manage different sectors of the economy, both publicly and at times shrouded in secrecy.
Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International’s Spanish edition,spoke with a political activist from the opposition, Elio Herrera. The Christian politician and member of the political organization Nueva Visión para mi País (NUVIPA) said that “those statements from any other opposition candidate, or any other opposition figure, would have been enough to implement the hate speech law and thus deprive anyone who uttered them of their freedom. There we see the imbalance in the application of the law here in the country. Now, I cannot say, one hopes that an event like the one announced by a leader of the ruling party like this will not become reality.”
“However, we must know that the people know that this is a peaceful election. We must advocate for peace, to maintain the call that is being made to all sectors to participate in the vote. A call to remain calm, to always maintain sanity, to not fall into provocations. To comply with what the legal regulations say, and to recognize the results that must ultimately be announced,” he added.
Maduro, however, emphasized that the military structures are “increasingly deeply pro-Chavez” and will not allow the opposition to reach Miraflores Palace by means of voting.
“I ask simply to analyze scenarios, what would happen in Venezuela if the oligarchy of the Caracas surnames came to political power by accident? (…) What would happen with all the social, cultural, political, spiritual, moral and military power that the revolution has?” he said, adding later: “Could there be new February 27ths? Could there be new February 4ths? Could there be a great April 13th again?” The candidate of the Unified Socialist Party (PSUV) referred to the 'Caracazo', as the social uprising against the social-democratic president, Carlos Andrés Pérez, was known, and the subsequent uprising of Hugo Chávez against that government.
“You cannot fool all the people all the time”
Asked if he thought it was a real threat or just an intimidation tactic, Herrera said that if there is a different result than the one expected by the government, “it will not be able to announce” anything other than the reality of the facts. He believes it is “a psychological factor and a factor to intimidate, to remove the incentive for the person who is going to exercise their right to vote. People are not going to vote out of fear, just the opposite. People are emboldened and will go to vote because they understand that it is the opportunity to exercise such an important right.”
Asked, however, if there is fear, Herrera said, “People know how important this historic moment is for the country. And many people, far from being afraid, feel rather brave to go and exercise their right. A right that belongs to all Venezuelans, and that in reality a change is sought. It has been 25 years under the same policy, under the same system of government, and people, well, are tired. Someone said something very true at some point, and that is that you can fool part of the people all the time, or you can fool all the people part of the time. What you cannot do is fool all the people all the time.”
“And I think that is what is happening here. People have woken up. There is a lot of discontent in sectors, even in government sectors. Many public officials with whom we have had the opportunity to talk, from the lowest to the highest levels, are dissatisfied with the way public policies and economic policies have been carried out, and there is a need for a change in the direction and management of all these policies in the country,” he added.
Among the government’s strategies, one was focused on those who emigrated from the country and of whom a minority could vote and support the change promoted by the opposition. Herrera commented that “certainly not all those who are abroad will be able to exercise their right to vote. But those who can do so, those who are authorized to vote, well, I think this is the best time to be able to capitalize on that need or desire for change on this coming July 28.”
And for the compatriots who are in the country, Herrera had words of encouragement. “Those of us who are here and have the right to vote here, well, it is also an opportunity. The call is not only for those who are abroad, but also here. Let no one stay at home. Let those people who can go to vote, but who perhaps do not have the means […], let us make ourselves available to be mobilizers that day. Let us take all the people who cannot go by their own means to some electoral center, let them go and exercise their rights, because it is our family, it is so many years of struggle.”
Herrera’s wish, which reflects the hope of many people in Venezuela and abroad, is to "make the dream of many mothers and fathers come true, wanting their children to return to the country, to return home. That our brothers and sisters who also have relatives abroad can return. And that we can be with our family again, as it should always have been."
The opposition candidate: a retired diplomat who had no political aspirations
As many Venezuelans hope for changes, all the attention is now on the chances that the majority opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, will have to become president of the country. The The New York Times earlier reported that González Urrutia had emerged as the candidate that the government will not try to block and that the opposition would support.
“Until recently, González, 74, was a retired diplomat with four grandchildren and no political aspirations. He kept himself busy writing academic essays, speaking at conferences and taking his grandchildren to the barbershop and music lessons. Few in his native Venezuela knew his name,” the Times noted.
González Urrutia was already registered as a provisional option in the National Electoral Council (CNE) after neither María Corina Machado, winner of the opposition primaries in October, nor Corina Yoris - whom Machado appointed as his substitute - could register. Thus, the retired diplomat became the definitive candidate without receiving any objections.
As presidential candidate for the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), the alliance that brings together the main opposition parties and leaders in Venezuela, González Urrutia is supported by the parties Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) and Mesa de la Unidad Democrática (MUD).
He is a career diplomat and international analyst. He was a member of the international editorial board of the newspaper El Nacional and was part of the MUD, the alliance that brought together the most important opposition parties before the formation of the PUD, as president of its board of directors. He was also director of the Coordination and Strategic Planning Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He became ambassador to Algeria during the mandates of Carlos Andrés Pérez and Ramón José Velásquez. Later he served as general director of international policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was then ambassador to Argentina, appointed by then-president Rafael Caldera, and held the position for the first three years during the government of Hugo Chávez.
The election pits him against authoritarian ruler Nicolas Maduro who has seen record levels of poverty and emigration from the country. González Urrutia projects himself as a quiet politician who has won strong support despite being the opposition's third choice after its two preferred candidates were barred from running.
Diario Cristiano spoke with some Christian leaders to find out what they think and feel about the candidate whose victory could mark the dawn of a great change in Venezuela.
Opposition activist Elio Herrera said that “for the first time in all these years… in the last twenty-five years, we have achieved everything as the opposition. We have been revolving around a united candidacy, something that had not been possible before. […] So, this is a sign of significant progress. It is a single expression, there is a national sentiment that for the first time in all these years has a fairly certain chance of coming to power.”
Carlos Vielma, a pastor, political activist, and evangelist on the streets of Caracas, has a positive view of the opposition candidate. He said that “María Corina’s disqualification gave way to Edmundo [González Urrutia] who, because of his personality and his diplomatic career, has a much less violent discourse. I think that is the discourse that the country needs. If Edmundo wins, he will have to form a transitional government, and a transitional government needs firmness, but with a silk hand.”
The week leading up to the presidential elections has seen tensions rise, fueled by the possibility that Maduro will not be reelected. González Urrutia indicated that the polls give him “a wide lead”. “We are confident of our victory, which could be an overwhelming victory,” the main opponent of the Maduro regime reportedly said. The polls project him winning with up to 60% and Maduro receiving only around a tenth of the popular vote.
“Candidate Edmundo is a character that history and circumstances have placed at this moment in a fundamental and very important role in Venezuela,” Herrera commented. “That role is that of presidential candidate who has awakened many feelings at a national level where one can gather from the day-to-day conversations in the community, in society, that he is a candidate who has more favor than the current President,” he added.
As the Venezuelan people prepare to exercise their right to vote, the world watches with expectation and concern, aware that these elections could mark a historic turning point.
González Urrutia's promise of a firm but peaceful transition resonates like an echo of hope in a nation hungry for stability and progress. Today, many Venezuelans believe, will be the opportunity to write a new chapter in their nation’s history, one where the voice of the people prevails and where democracy flourishes again on fertile ground.
Original reporting by Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily International's Spanish edition.
