A vengeful Nicolás Maduro promised a Caracas rally of supporters following the July 28th presidential election that he claims to have won that his opponents would face: “Maximum punishment! Justice!” He added: ”There will be no forgiveness this time!” And he has been as good as his word, as the 1,400-plus arrests of oppositionists, ordinary people as much as activists, and the 24 dead protesters can attest.
Venezuela has entered a period of the blackest repression in its history, all but extinguishing the growing hopes of millions of citizens at home and in exile. Perhaps naively, they had believed this would be a free election, holding to account a brutal regime that has held power for 25 years.
Sure enough, the certified voting tallies, assiduously collected by volunteer observers at 83 per cent of the country’s 15,000 polling stations, testified to an overwhelming defeat for Maduro and victory for opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. Maduro, backed by the official election board, claims, without evidence, that he has won a simple majority.
A UN report last week found the country’s electoral body “did not comply with the basic measures of transparency and integrity that are essential for the conduct of credible elections.” Argentina, Uruguay and the US have recognised the Gonzalez victory, while the EU, neighbours Brazil and Colombia are demanding proof from Maduro of his claims and want a second election.
Now the initial optimistic exuberance of the opposition, which believed it had won, has turned to a cowed and frightened furtiveness. Citizens are being encouraged to use special apps to denounce neighbours, police go door-to-door to find suspects in “Operation Knock Knock”, black crosses are smeared on the homes of those suspected, protesters are routinely teargassed, and mothers bury their shot-down teenage children.
A desperate Maduro is clinging to power, but his tactics betray vulnerability. The international community owes it to Venezuela’s people not to let him off the hook.