Venezuela's socialist government and the Venezuelan opposition will each hold the presidential inauguration ceremony in Caracas on January 10, 2025, for two people who both claim to be president: longtime dictator Nicolás Maduro and opposition candidate Edmundo González. conduct.
The ruling Socialists are set to re-elect Maduro as president, while the opposition is planning a ceremony for González, a 75-year-old exiled diplomat who claims he will return to Venezuela and become president in January.
Venezuela's decades-long political crisis entered a complicated new chapter in 2024 following a fraudulent presidential election on July 28. That day, Maduro showed up. 13 times On the ballot, he faced off against several hand-picked “rivals” and González, the only opposition candidate allowed by the socialist government to participate. The main opposition candidate, Maria Colina Machado, was not allowed to participate as punishment for calling for international human rights sanctions against Maduro's government.
The fake election was the result of President Maduro. Throw away the garbage An agreement signed with opposition parties in Barbados at the end of 2023 called for “free and fair” elections to be held in the second half of 2024. This document, known as the “Barbados Agreement'', was signed by both sides in accordance with the agreement. A look at the administration of outgoing US President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The election ended with Mr. Maduro declaring himself the “winner,” but at press time neither Mr. Maduro nor his government institutions had released any voter data or documents that could prove the claimed results. Opposition parties immediately disputed the results, presenting thousands of national voter counts obtained at the local level on election day that they said could prove Mr. González defeated Mr. Maduro in a landslide. . Opposition parties have a digital copy of the tally Website. The published tally remains the only available public record of election results.
some countries such as US, Argentina,and european union It recognized Mr. González as the winner of the election, but Mr. Maduro's claimed victory was instead recognized by left-wing countries and key ideological allies, among others. China, Russiaand Cuba.
Throughout 2024, President Maduro and his socialist regime waged a relentless campaign of persecution against dissidents, but in the aftermath of the fake election Venezuelans took to the streets to protest the dictator's claimed “victory.” As a result, the repression intensified dramatically.
Supporters of President Nicolas Maduro participate in a march in support of the law against fascism, neo-fascism and similar expressions in Caracas on August 23, 2024. holding a dummy. (PEDRO RANCES MATTEY/AFP) (Photo by PEDRO RANCES MATTEY/AFP, Getty Images)
UN expert estimate The post-election crackdown left 27 people dead and more than 2,400 detained, including more than 120 minors, many of whom were subjected to torture and beatings and accused of “terrorism.” He was reportedly charged with a crime. Maduro's government ultimately released A minor was unlawfully detained at the end of December. Local nongovernmental organizations estimate that approximately 1,800 adults remain unjustly imprisoned at the end of 2024.
González himself has been the target of a persecution campaign. ran away He entered Spain in September after Maduro's government issued an arrest warrant for him. Mr. Gonzalez publicly claimed that He plans to return to Venezuela to take office as president in January.
“I intend to take on the mission that the sovereign people of Venezuela have given me by voting,” González reportedly told Colombia's W radio in November when asked how he planned to avoid the arrest warrant. It is said that
Meanwhile, dictator Nicolas Maduro reiterated in December that he would take on his “mandate” for the next six years. ordered His supporters said “millions of people” filled the boulevards of Venezuela's main cities to celebrate the dictator's “great victory” and “pledge allegiance to Venezuela, independence and the Bolivarian homeland.” It happened.
Maduro too claimed He accused González of being a “puppet of the oligarchy.” [U.S.] 'Imperialism' will never be in office.
González and Maduro's upcoming separate oaths reflect events that followed Venezuela's deception 2018 In the presidential election, Maduro banned opposition candidates and pitted them against hand-picked “rivals.”
Following the illegality of the 2018 elections, Venezuela's National Assembly, then dominated by an opposition majority, acted on the Venezuelan constitution's “break with the democratic order” and appointed then-head Juan Guaido. I decided to do it. He served as interim president in January 2019 until the issue was resolved.
Venezuela's interim president, Juan Guaido, is escorted to his car after being assaulted by socialists at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetia, Vargas state, Venezuela, on February 11, 2020. (Christian Hernandez/AFP via Getty Images)
Mr. Guaido, like Mr. González, was recognized by the United States and much of the free world, and Mr. Maduro was recognized by the regime's allies at the time.
The interim presidency was created with the express goal of ending Maduro's usurpation of the presidency, forming a transitional government, and organizing free elections in Venezuela. In the end, President Guaidó never exercised any power within the country and remained a symbolic figure at best.
Guaido's appointment as president dissolved At the end of 2022, as neither goal was achieved. After traveling to Colombia in 2023, Guaido exiled He moved to Miami and has lived in the United States with his family ever since.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
