Written By David Gomez
When I met my wife almost ten years ago, she had fled her country to find better opportunities and a place where she could grow professionally. And although that escape resulted in unconditional love, the memory of the past and the longing for her homeland have always been present.
Her country, Venezuela, had been a symbol of dictatorship and economic inflation since the last decade. These factors, along with others, caused millions of Venezuelans to begin leaving their country and starting an exodus to different parts of the world. Currently, almost eight million Venezuelans live practically in exile, many of them without appropriate diplomatic representation in consulates or embassies, and worse still without any hope of being able to return safely to their motherland.
Many Latin American countries have had to assume the immense waves of migration from Venezuela without being prepared economically, socially or migratory. Peru, my country of origin, currently has more than one and a half million Venezuelans, the vast majority of whom are refugees and also many undocumented. This is the situation in many other countries in the region.
In this column, I am going to write a little about what is currently happening in Venezuela, especially after the electoral fraud carried out by the dictatorship in the last presidential elections on July 28.
The crisis has reached its peak following the recent declaration by the government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) that Nicolas Maduro has won the presidential elections, thus ensuring himself a third consecutive term. Independent observers have called these elections not democratic and the opposition has flatly rejected the results, calling them fraudulent.
Many countries like the United States, Canada, several Latin American countries and the European Union have rejected the election results, demanding that the CNE disclose comprehensive data from the voting centres. The opposition contends that this information would reveal a clear victory for their candidate, Edmundo González.
In response to the disputed results, anti-government protests have broken out across the country. Hundreds of people have been detained by the military and police forces, which remain loyal to Maduro. The protesters argue that they voted for change after 25 years of communist rule under the PSUV party, led first by Hugo Chavez and, after his death in 2013, by his friend and former bus driver, Nicolas Maduro. In all of these years, the PSUV has gained control of key institutions, such as the CNE, the Supreme Court of Justice and much of the judiciary, significantly weakening the system of checks and balances and amplifying the president’s power.
Venezuela’s economic situation has also played a crucial role in the current unrest. Global oil prices plummeted after Maduro was elected in 2011, sinking Venezuela, which relies heavily on oil revenues. Inflation soared and shortages of basic goods became widespread, leading to waves of anti-government protests in 2014 and 2017 that were harshly repressed by the military forces. That’s when millions of Venezuelans began an exodus, fleeing violent repression and a dire economic situation.
In October 2023, the political opposition in Venezuela held a primary election to select an only candidate for the upcoming presidential election on July 28 this year. Former congresswoman María Corina Machado won decisively, but was banned from public office by the Comptroller General, an ally of the government. After her appeal was rejected, she endorsed former diplomat Edmundo González as the final candidate.
Before the election, González was leading significantly in opinion polls. To prevent fraud, the opposition organized thousands of witnesses and observers at polling stations. Reports from these observers, which have been reviewed independently and published online, suggest that González won by a considerable margin. Nevertheless, Maduro’s administration has stood by the CNE’s official results, accusing the opposition of inciting terrorism and calling the protests an attempted coup.
Now the dictator Maduro is persecuting anyone who suggests fraud. He has tracked down hundreds of civilian protesters or anyone who speaks out against it, including on social media, and has put them in prison. So far, more than fifty people have been forcibly disappeared.
This terrible situation is a demonstration of the breakdown of contemporary democracy across our continent. Thousands of Venezuelans in exile, as well as my wife, still hope that their beautiful and diverse country can one day be free.
