Edmundo Gonzalez is the president “whether he is in Venezuela or anywhere else in the world.” This is the message offered by the opposition activist Maria Corina Machado Shortly after, his traveling companion decided to emigrate to Spain after weeks of harassment and threats from Chavismo. The goal, he added, remains the same: to appoint the former ambassador as head of state at the January 10 ceremony.
But things have changed with the recent exile. The opposition is forced to design a “double strategy” that will have Caracas and Madrid as its headquarters. A few days ago, the former candidate for the October 2023 primaries, Andres Calecastressed that there must now be a “collective leadership” of “unity” in Venezuela, in permanent contact with citizens.
Furthermore, he added: “The leadership of this great political movement must be an organized vanguard, perfectly clear in the strategic direction that the movement must take. It is of no use to anyone if it is separated.” For Caleca, the time has come for political parties, and it is the unity around them and their leaders that must guide the tactics against the dictatorship.
Former candidate for the Venezuelan opposition primaries in October 2023, Andrés Caleca.
His words echo what Machado said after Edmundo’s emigration. In a call to his bases, he said they were facing “a new phase of struggle” and now they are ‘Comanditos’ and the parties that must move forward in their quest to regain democracy. For his compatriots abroad, he acknowledged an “enormous responsibility” in the censorship suffered in recent years.
In Spain, the opposition refuses to rest. Edmundo’s presence is added to that of Leopoldo Lopez and that of the former mayor of the Venezuelan capital, Antonio LedezmaThe list also includes the former Speaker of Parliament, Jules BorgesAnd Dinora Figueraformer MP. Together, with the active collaboration of forces such as the PP, they want to maintain and intensify the pressure on the regime.
The controversy in Venezuela has become a domestic political issue in Spain in recent days. While the government still refuses to recognize Edmundo, imitating the position defended so far by the European Union, Congress has approved a standard to demand its recognition.
In Brussels, however, although the head of diplomacy, Joseph Borrellsaid a few days ago that “Edmundo González seems to be the winner of the elections”, there is no guarantee that the European Parliament will validate this with its vote next week. The Socialists and Democrats group, for example, would not support this resolution. One of the reasons, they anticipated, is the failure of the former recognition of Juan Guaido in 2019, when nearly 60 countries supported it without the expected success.
Activism as a weapon of struggle
Listening to Caleca, a group of activists widely recognized in their country, they signed a declaration of “union proclamation” published last Sunday. In it, they emphasize their struggle to recover democracy in Venezuela and the positioning of unity as a horizon between all political, social and cultural sectors.
Among the participants in the letter, stand out Andres Izarra And Rodrigo Cabezasboth former Chavista ministers; Lorenzo Tovarexecutive secretary of the Higher Council of Christian Democracy; the writer Leonard Padrón; and the philosopher Yorina Coriswho after Machado’s disqualification, the opposition nominated her as a candidate. However, a few days later, she suffered the same fate as her predecessor.
For the signatories, the document aims to become a reference for the democratic reconstruction of the nation. In Tovar’s words, “We must be careful but insist on the objective we are pursuing”It is in this phase of “resistance”, as Corina had anticipated, that the opposition bloc commits to easing the repression of the regime with coordinated movements and with unity as a stick.
Academic Yoris recounted how the restoration of the rule of law and national conciliation began in the October 2023 primaries. It was there, she considers, that the dissent against the dictatorship began a real struggle to restore the institutionality of Venezuela. “This document will become something historic. Unity leads us to the reconstruction of this devastated Republic, destroyed by a regime that has unleashed an unprecedented wave of repression in recent months.”
The truth is that despite the mobilizations and gestures of support from Madrid, the pressure from the international community and the resilience of Machado and the activists, Maduro and his iron circle seem to be installed in power. In true Cuban fashion, the Bolivarian regime ignores the trade sanctions and the isolation to which it is subjected. Maintaining authority is, above all, the greatest mandate.
