Venezuela: What's next?
The Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ in Spanish) in the oil-producing nation has determined that the bulletins issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE in Spanish) on the July 28 elections—granting victory to Nicolás Maduro—are “valid”. There is nothing new here, although there was certainly some expectation with the narrative. In the end it has all been very simple: the highest judicial authority has validated the conclusions of the electoral power without much fuss, drawing on a legal wording of little stature.
There is still no disaggregated data to support the controversial proclamation of Maduro as winner, and the only thing that the TSJ's decision does in this regard is simply to urge the CNE to comply with the provisions of the corresponding legislation. The main opposition candidate did not show up to the judicial process—an expert assures that it was the place to defend his claims—, and so he was declared in contempt by the electoral chamber, which could result in criminal sanctions. The Attorney General has warned again that he will go on the attack to prove crimes such as “usurpation of functions” and “forgery of public documents”.
#ÚltimoMinuto| este es justo el momento que la presidenta del TSJ y de la Sala Electoral convalida los resultado emitidos por el Poder Electoral luego de un exhaustivo peritaje con expertos nacionales e internacionales. pic.twitter.com/eJPXzYEJMZ
— Madelein Garcia (@madeleintlSUR) August 22, 2024
Then, it is a real unknown what comes next for the opposition. According to the Venezuelan legal system, in practice, the result of the electoral process is res judicata—that is, unobjectionable—, and so the Government has affirmed that it is a closed chapter. The opposition had already stated on Wednesday that it would consider “ineffective” and “null” any judicial decision “certifying” the victory granted by the CNE to Maduro, who reacted to the decision with a speech in which he looked very firm and resolute, sheltered by a crowd which shows that Chavismo continues to have a strong electoral base. The Bolivarian National Armed Forces supported the sentence of the judicial authority as well.
SourceIn the international arena, on Wednesday it was learned that Washington was preparing a list of around 60 Venezuelan officials and their relatives to be sanctioned, responsible for “[allowing] electoral fraud and repression”. The mediation attempted by Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, three countries with left-leaning rulers, does not seem to have any future, while Chile, Uruguay, and Guatemala have already strongly disowned the decision of the TSJ announced this Thursday. A special UN mission to Venezuela also denounced that the judicial and electoral powers lack independence and impartiality, and more reactions of rejection to the actions of the judiciary will surely be added in the coming hours. Anyway, this particular act of the Venezuelan political scene ended today.
And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.
It is passing strange that "...Washington was preparing a list of around 60 Venezuelan officials and their relatives to be sanctioned, responsible for “[allowing] electoral fraud and repression." Kamala has bypassed the nomination process and been simply foisted on the Democratic Party by the kingmakers therein. RFK and his running mate, lifelong Democrats that have chosen to run as Independents because of the machinations of the Democratic Party, have recently stated that their campaign has been criminally disrupted by the Democrats, spies and agents provocateur infiltrated into their staff, and that since they have been utterly censored by the Democrat controlled corporate media and social media platforms, they can only undermine opposition to the Democrats if they persist in their campaign, so they are considering withdrawing and urging their supporters to back Trump, the only potential candidate who could defeat the Democrats.
Sadly, Trump is also a lifelong Democrat, only Republican in name for the purpose of campaigning for President, as he stated in an interview with Oprah Winfrey back in the 80s 'because Republicans are easier to lie to'.
I do not think the pronouncement of Washington mean much when the opposition candidate they have sponsored in Venezuela did not appear to defend their claims in court.
Thanks!
Hello @valued-customer.
Just to clarify something here that you may not be aware of. The Supreme Court of Venezuela isn't an independent branch, it's entirely owned by chavismo. Their ruling completely lacks any validity and the opposition would've accomplished nothing at all by attending the session, except risking arrest.
Citizens can't take to the streets en masse here, the regime has already killed dozens this year and has officially imprisoned about 2,000 people for dissenting, protesting, reporting and denouncing abuses or being electoral witnesses, though the actual figure might be double that.
The situation isn't clear cut or straightforward. If you want to know more, I've been posting about it for the past week on this very community.
I appreciate the heads up. In fact, I know very little about Venezuela and it's governance. I, you may note, have refrained from commenting about the election there - although I did comment regarding US politicking regarding the matter. I am not qualified to discuss Venezuelan politics, but do have specific understanding regarding American government. Regardless of Venezuelan political realities, I am confident the current US administration's policies are contrary to the peace and felicity of the Venezuelan people. American government is utterly corrupt and criminal, a blight that demonstrably deploys it's law enforcement agencies to criminally harass and interfere in American elections, censor Americans in covert defiance of the First Amendment, disarm them in open defiance of the Second Amendment, and mandate their subjection to experimental genetic modification with catastrophic health impacts, including the deaths of thousands of American children.
How could anything they do be good for Venezuelans?
Thanks!
I understand the mistrust in US foreign policy, but when it comes to Venezuela, actually, the sanctions the US government has been imposing on members of the regime have been pretty useful to restrict their operational capacity and sow internal dysfunctions. I'm not a supporter of any particular US administration, but their recent stance on the Maduro regime has been effective for our overall goal of removing them from power.
Hello friend, I have been a bit busy preparing everything my children need to start the new school year, and so I am sorry for not giving you prompt answer on this comment. I understand and share your views on the breakdown of democracy in the United States. Regarding the Venezuelan opposition candidate, it is true that there are serious doubts about the impartiality of the judicial and electoral powers, but how powerful and motivating it would have been for the millions of Venezuelans who voted against Maduro to see him having the courage to come out of his shelter and fight in all ways possible. As I have said to you other times, Venezuelan opposition "leadership" is always faulting. Thanks for your sound feedback again.
Hello, @limonta. I appreciate you reporting on Venezuela, but I'd suggest being careful when conflating your personal opinions with facts that you can verify. When you say that the Venezuelan opposition's leadership is always faulting, you're presenting very distinct situations in different contexts with different leaders as if they were the same, and they aren't.
This move by the TSJ isn't what it seems it is, the regime's situation isn't what it seems to be either and neither are the statements by the Armed Forces or any other major actor. If you want to understand more, I've been posting about it for the past week, and you may also ask me whatever you wish in order to clarify any doubts. Thanks again for showing interest in Venezuela's situation.