Europe and America, to close ranks for democracy in Venezuela and the region

Those times at the end of the last century where democracy was consolidated and established as the predominant system of government in the vast majority of countries in the world seemed distant. The prestige of democracy was such that those who tried to rise up against it had to disguise themselves as democrats; and for that reason, they paraded pregnant with good intentions and marketed themselves almost like martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the people’s right to choose. From this “epic” have emerged the dictators of this era, the prophets of neo-totalitarianism, the tyrants who no longer dress in olive green and who use democratic mechanisms to gain power and once in power, repeal the validity of democracy. and confiscate all rights, including participation.

the prestigious magazine The Economist recently published its report on the Global Index of Democracy, a study that has been carried out since 2006 and whose purpose is to measure the health of democracy worldwide. This new edition highlighted a set of data that make up a precise paradigm on the democratic regression that the planet is experiencing, and especially Latin America, which was cataloged as the region of the world that has experienced the greatest setbacks in recent years.

Nicaragua and Venezuela appear at the forefront of this regional democratic setback. Two countries that went from being democracies to hybrid regimes a few years ago; and now they have evolved from hybrid regimes to outright dictatorships, so much so that practically no one doubts that they are, along with Cuba, the opprobrium regimes in our America. They systematically persecute dissidence, savagely violate human rights (it is not in vain that an investigation has been opened against Venezuela in the International Criminal Court), and they have eroded democracy in its entirety, from institutions to voting as a tool for peaceful change.

Because of the latter, it is worth mentioning the report presented this week by the Electoral Mission of the European Union on the regional and municipal elections held in Venezuela last year. Said document was prepared from the deployment of a group of experts who evaluated the technical and political aspects of the Venezuelan electoral system, and built a very clear consensus: Venezuela is far from meeting the conditions for a competitive election.

The report of Europe includes a set of irregularities that cloud any electoral competition in Venezuela. Among them are the seizure of the judicial system by the dictatorship, the use of public resources to favor the regime’s candidates, the climate of censorship imposed on the independent press, the disqualification of opposition candidates, the kidnapping of cards of the main political parties of the democratic alternative and political persecution before, during and after an electoral contest. All these are vices that Maduro uses to stay in power despite not having popular support, ignoring the constitutional text in all its essence.

At the time this European electoral commission was appointed, multiple voices rose to oppose it, alleging that it was a maneuver that only oxygenated Maduro in his attempt to regain international legitimacy. Time has shown us how wrong that approach was; Well, Europe has risen to the occasion. He has not signed a blank check to the dictatorship as some predicted, on the contrary, he has put a straitjacket on them regarding the electoral guarantees necessary for a process to have the recognition of the democratic world. In this sense, the report produced by Europe must be a fundamental pillar of the democratic struggle to come, which is none other than the reactivation of national and international pressure, on all fronts, to achieve the necessary guarantees for parliamentary elections and free presidential Latin America, the United States and Europe must fight together and press to prevent an election like the one that took place in Nicaragua last year from being repeated in Venezuela.

Along the same lines, it is necessary that the report not only push forward the fight that we Venezuelans are waging, but also serve to shake the consciences of the leaders of the region in a purpose of stratospheric relevance: Latin America must take care of the quality of its electoral institutions. In a year marked by different electoral processes of the utmost importance in our region and in the face of what is already a conjugation of dictatorial forces against the West and democratic values; which includes aggressions of all kinds of magnitude, it is an inescapable commitment for the region to close ranks with democracy, protecting the vote and citizen participation. Europe and America must meet again in a single common front, which is none other than the preservation of democracy.

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