Venezuela is going through a new and tougher phase of its authoritarianism under the command of Nicolas Madurowho is set to extend his 12-year rule despite certainties that he rigged the results of last year’s presidential election. Who really won those elections, the retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzálezfled the country to escape a drastic post-election crackdown, but will return to Venezuela to challenge Maduro’s inauguration this Friday.
The feared Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Hairwarned that González will be arrested if you try to come back. “Come! “We are waiting for you!” Cabello said defiantly. Furthermore, he assured that the beginning of Maduro’s third term will not be interrupted and rejected any suggestion that the armed forces could switch sidessomething the opposition is desperately asking for. “The barracks are quiet”Cabello stated, while ordering a massive deployment of security forces to quell any dissent.
Maduro’s inauguration, boycotted by most democratic government leaders, marks a painful milestone in the collapse of what was once one of South America’s largest democracies. According to John Polga-Hecimovich, co-editor of the book Authoritarian Consolidation in Times of Crisis: Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro, Last year’s electoral fraud exposed how the hardest sectors of Chavismo have defeated the moderates who favored admitting defeat to González. “There is no longer even the pretext of negotiating or building consensus with the opposition. “It is a total rejection of democracy,” he commented.
The theft of the 2024 elections, which according to data published by the opposition Maduro lost decisivelyled the government from being an electoral authoritarianism to becoming a closed hegemonic regime. There is no longer “soft dictation.”
“It is a dictatorship,” said Polga-Hecimovich. Furthermore, he pointed out that Maduro has shown his true nature to the worldor: “He is a brutal dictator who imprisons those who think differentlyoversaw the largest economic collapse in modern Latin American history and is responsible for the largest migratory exodus in the history of the hemisphere”.
On the eve of the inauguration ceremony in Caracas, activists denounced that Maduro’s agents kidnapped more than a dozen figures linked to the oppositionincluding González’s son-in-law Rafael Tudares, human rights activist Carlos Correa and prominent politician Enrique Márquez. “A large-scale witch hunt is underway,” tweeted Iván Briscoe, a Latin America expert at the Crisis Group.
However, there are those who maintain that, despite everything, there is hope. Marcel Dirsus, author of the book How Tyrants Fall and Nations Survivehighlighted thatDictatorial regimes often fall quickly and unexpectedlyas happened in Syria with Bashar al-Assad. “Dictatorial stability is often an illusion. “Maduro is mortal, and he will eventually fall,” he said.
Although the opposition has repeatedly failed to displace Maduro, young people believe there is a new energy in the streets. Maria Corina Machadoopposition leader and González’s main supporter, called on Venezuelans to mobilize this Thursday with “the force of a swollen river.” From a secret location, Machado declared that the Maduro regime is fracturing and that ““Soldiers and police are reflecting on whether they want to be tyrants who repress or heroes who defend their people.”
Nevertheless, the possibility of a military rebellion remains uncertain. Maduro has armored his regime with a strategic combination of purges, promotions and loyalty to the Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino Lópezwho has held the position for more than a decade. “It’s an uphill battle for the opposition,” Polga-Hecimovich admitted.
On Friday, Maduro will prepare for a third term, possibly amid an empty ceremony of international leaders. Presidents like Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil and Gustavo Petro of Colombia have rejected the election results and they will not attend. Even Bolivia, an ally of Venezuela, has excused the absence of its president, Luis Arce. “It’s going to be a pathetic inauguration,” predicted David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University.
Maduro remains, but his legacy is that of a ruler who plunged his country into an unprecedented crisis. AND The fight of Venezuelans for democracy and the end of the dictatorship is far from over.
Image gallery
