The deputy spokesperson of the PP in Congress, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, defended this Tuesday that the Chamber, as a whole, recognizes Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the elections and elected president of Venezuela. The fact that Spain is doing so is the first step for Strasbourg, next week, to do the same at the seat of the European Parliament.
The Popular Party’s non-law proposal (PNL) is being debated this Tuesday in Congress, but it is being voted on Wednesday and will go to the PNV’s votes. In this time, the socialists want to be able to appropriate the text and partially modify it. In other words, transform the defeat into a relative victory.
In its version, the PP took advantage of the motivation to charge José Luis Rodriguez Zapateroblaming him for his “silence” as a clear example of the government’s “unacceptable lack of commitment to truth and justice.” For its part, the PSOE project proposes to positively value the work of the former president.
Although the precise content of the socialists’ amendment is still unknown, Álvarez de Toledo described Edmundo González’s request for asylum (and his subsequent departure for Madrid) as “an operation designed by the dictatorship, organized by Zapatero and facilitated by the Spanish Government.” Immediately afterwards, he proceeded with his decalogue.
1. Because it is the truth and the truth matters.
Without truth, there is no democracy. Without truth, there is only sound and fury; stories and tales of struggle.
Maduro intends to impose the lie by force. But we all know that Edmundo won with 67% of the votes. This is confirmed by the minutes collected by citizens in a moving example of democratic militancy.
These minutes are a symbol of the battle for the restoration of truth in public life. Ignoring what they say – that Edmundo won – is an attack on reality. It encourages the post-truth that is eating away at contemporary democracies.
2. Because the sovereignty of the people is sacred.
Yes, that of Venezuela too. Or is the vote of a Venezuelan worth less than that of a Spaniard?
To recognize Edmundo González’s victory is to defy the condescension of those who treat Venezuela as a second-class people. It is to affirm the principle of sovereignty, the foundation of the democratic system. And it is to avoid a diabolical precedent, which any aspiring autocrat would allow. Yes, here too.
3. Because the popular will is the only starting point for the transition.
The dictatorship raises the specter of a civil war and claims that Edmundo’s departure ensures peace. No, in Venezuela there are not two armed gangs: the aggression is unilateral. In fact, there are not even two sides.
There is a people reconciled in their desire for freedom. All that remains is for a corrupt and criminal caste to reconcile with the reality of its defeat. That is what this initiative is for. To promote the transition. So that this embrace between Venezuelans also reaches the exiles.
4. Because in the face of repression, only firmness works.
Please: Do not consider appeasement intelligence as the source of the greatest calamities in modern history. UN reports describe armed electoral theft. Torture, arbitrary arrests, children kidnapped, mistreated, mistreated.
But the government is dragging its feet and Mr Borrell has said that “there is still time until January”. The kidnapped have no time. The persecuted have no time. The children have no time. Edmundo González has not had time. He has been the victim of a totalitarian manhunt and today joins the list of exiles.
He has been silent for weeks, now Mr. Sánchez calls him a “hero” and says he will not abandon him. The heroes are all Venezuelan democrats. Edmundo is something else: he is the one chosen by the heroes. Not recognizing him is abandoning him and the people who voted for him. What is at stake is much more than the destiny of a man; it is the validity of a mandate and we are going to defend it.
5. Because even the left does not deserve this discredit.
I ask: “Is Maduro left-wing? There is a one-eyed left that only sees right-wing dictatorships. Or that thinks: “Maduro is a dictator, but at least he is our dictator.” By whitewashing Maduro, it is sullying itself.
Learn from Boric, who said: “Venezuela is a dictatorship” and added: “A left that respects human rights is possible and necessary, regardless of the color of the person who violates them.”
Follow in his wake. Understand that what is moral is what is effective. Lead the recognition of Edmundo González in Europe. Consensus is not an excuse.
They break it to recognize the State of Palestine, but not to recognize the president of Venezuela? Or is there no repression in Venezuela? Or maybe González Urrutia’s democratic credentials are worse than those of Hamas?
6. Because cynicism doesn’t deserve a prize.
Ladies and gentlemen of the PSOE: your amendment is unacceptable. Edmundo is stripped and Zapatero is elevated. What am I saying: they proclaim him a hero. Mr. Zapatero has for years maintained a relationship of anti-democratic intimacy with Maduro and his criminal court. Zapatero is anything but a mediator. He has always used dialogue to give oxygen to the dictatorship. Invoke good to perpetuate evil. Maximum immorality.
7. Because it affects all of Latin America.
The Uruguayan representative to the OAS said it well: what do you think the 8 million Venezuelans scattered throughout the continent are doing? Tourism? And what would happen if the dictatorship continues? A humanitarian and regional catastrophe.
8. Because a minimum of coherence is expected from Europe.
Mr Albares gathered his European colleagues and together they decreed that “Maduro did not win, but neither did the opposition”. The truth is not a middle ground between two versions. Christmas is not on October 1st. But not on November 15th either. This is how democracies die.
9. Because Venezuela is a facade in defense of the liberal world order.
It is no coincidence that Putin, China and Iran support Maduro. They are allies against everything we defend. And first and foremost: freedom. Recognizing González’s victory is as urgent as defending the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The same cause, the same fight.
10. Because Spain has a historical and moral responsibility.
We were the homeland. Today we are a sister nation and a hinge with Europe. We are paying the price of international indifference to our own dictatorship and we wish for Venezuelans the same thing that we wish for ourselves: democracy and freedom.
