On July 28, Venezuela will hold presidential elections. And it looks like they won’t be easy. Experts almost unanimously note that this time there is intrigue!
In the meantime, the current head of state Nicolas Maduro registered as one of the candidates for the presidency of Venezuela. Let us remember that he is the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). A representative of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) is running for election from the united opposition Manuel Rosales. Let us note that Manuel Rosales is a well-known politician and governor of the state of Zulia, where the main oil fields are located. In addition to Rosales, a well-known opposition candidate from the far right is running for election Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. And out of a total of 13 registered candidates, 12 represent the opposition.
Experts note that the fight this time will not be easy. As El Pais reports, in fact, the position of the current president is weaker than the authorities declare. Maduro himself responded to the opposition’s claims as follows: “Tattered rightists, there will be elections on July 28, with or without you… We are going to the elections together with the people.”
However, at the same time, the Government of Venezuela and the opposition agreed on important conditions for holding the 2024 presidential elections. And Maduro had to make some concessions to the opposition in the format of the electoral process. The President of Venezuela is ready to make these concessions to ease American sanctions against the country’s oil industry. Nevertheless, according to one of the leading Russian experts on Latin American countries, director of the Center for Ibero-American Studies at St. Petersburg State University Victor Kheifets, it is difficult to believe that Maduro, having unified the country’s political field and removed the most dangerous and significant competitors from the road, will now allow free elections to take place. He understands that he can lose on them, and is unlikely to consider the option of external guarantees and retirement.
In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Viktor Kheifetz noted that “Hawks sit on the Foreign Affairs Committees of the US Congress. They may consider that it is necessary not to negotiate with Maduro, but to put pressure on him. However, it is possible that congressmen will decide that it is better to find a common language with him, just to reduce the influence of Russia and China in Venezuela. Then, it means that they will not be embarrassed by the fact that Moscow cannot particularly help Caracas in any way now. This, by the way, partly explains Maduro’s compliance. He pins certain hopes on American investment. True, it is not a fact that they will be justified. To restore the country’s industry, it is necessary to spend 20-25 billion dollars, and another 15 billion dollars in the next three years. There are doubts that even the United States will want to take on such a financial burden.”
In turn, in response to pressure from the State Department on official Caracas, the People’s Republic of China confirmed its support for the electoral process in Venezuela. Official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Lin Jian issued a statement wishing the Bolivarian nation “stable and unimpeded elections.” He also called for “a positive and constructive role for the international community in this direction.” Such statements are made in opposition to the actions of the US government, which is trying to use the upcoming elections to put pressure on Venezuela, reports La Radio del Sur. A number of countries have expressed their readiness to send observers to the upcoming presidential elections. And some Latin American leaders are calling the upcoming elections an important milestone in countering US imperial aspirations.
In turn, Nicolas Maduro called for the mobilization of the nation in the face of pressure from Washington. And he reminded that Commander Hugo Chavez formed the Bolivarian people for resistance, indicated on Maduro’s personal page on the social network. In a recent broadcast on Telesur channel dedicated to the upcoming elections, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, touched on topics of national and international importance and emphasized the country’s resilience in the face of the adversity of numerous sanctions imposed by foreign governments, the expert comments Manuel Cedenabout at Telesur.tv.
The head of Venezuela also recalled, speaking to voters on national television: “we face conspiracies from the governments of 50 countries, led by the core of the United States, which has imposed more than 900 sanctions against our country… But the world is changing, and it is thanks to our resistance.”
Nicolás Maduro compared the current political struggle to the historical battles of Simon Bolivar, Francisco de Miranda and Antonio José de Sucre against the Spanish empire two centuries ago.
“We have the task of fighting diplomatically and democratically. We have the right plan to put Venezuela on the path to prosperity and virtuous economic development,” Maduro concluded.
Another expert – Fernando Buet Abbotas reported by Telesur.tv, I am confident that the people of Venezuela will steadfastly and successfully resist “the arrogance and imperial obstinacy of the Yankees… What they did against the Venezuelan people is unbearable meanness. But let class hatred not be a substitute for fair debate. Because this electoral process is no longer just a Venezuelan affair».
However, despite the participation of 12 opposition candidates in these elections, the United States continues to make accusations against official Caracas. According to TASS, Venezuela denies statements by the US State Department accusing it of refusing to allow opposition leaders to participate in the 2024 presidential elections. This is stated in the communique of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, posted on the page of the head of this department Ivana Hilya Pinto on a social network.
“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela categorically rejects the statement of the Government of the United States of America dated March 27, 2024, which attempted to ignore and deem illegitimate the upcoming presidential elections [в Венесуэле]“, indicates the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.
The communique states that Venezuela is “in full compliance not only with the legal and constitutional norms for the upcoming presidential elections on July 28, 2024,” but also with all the provisions of the agreement signed in Barbados with the opposition Unitary Platform.
“This contrasts with the constant sabotage of the Barbados Agreement and other agreements reached during direct dialogue between the US government and the Bolivarian government,” the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry emphasizes.
“The most empty exercise is to impose your standards of democracy and way of life on another people. Moreover, political life. In addition, a significant part of the Venezuelan population is skeptical about recipes from Washington. And why on earth did the United States arrogate to itself the right to teach everyone? Let them sort out their elections and internal problems. Washington has plenty of them. As for the upcoming presidential elections in Venezuela, this time the intrigue is indeed obvious. And I don’t see a 100% guarantee of Maduro’s victory, unless there is a forceful option. But it would be wrong to talk about inevitable defeat in this situation. Let’s see what the voting results show. And Victor Kheifetz is right. Russia’s influence has indeed diminished. But this niche is confidently and gradually occupied by China, a strong and consistent competitor of the United States,” summed up the doctor of political sciences Tatiana Poloskova.
#Presidential #elections #Venezuela #intrigue #EADaily
2024-03-30 17:45:00
