Mr. President,

Today, Venezuela is experiencing one of the world’s most severe human rights crises. This has been stated by the Fact-Finding Mission and the High Commissioner, and is confirmed daily by thousands of victims of torture, enforced disappearances, and political persecution.

After Maduro’s defeat in the July 28 elections, the Venezuelan state has unleashed an unprecedented and brutal escalation of repression. More than 2,000 people have been arbitrarily detained — including children, women, and activists — for demanding their right to vote. Members of our campaign command have spent a year trapped in the Argentine Embassy without electricity, water, or essential supplies, with their safe passage denied. Political leaders and their families have been arbitrarily detained or disappeared, such as human rights defenders Rocío San Miguel and Javier Tarazona, who remain imprisoned under inhumane conditions. The son-in-law of President-elect Edmundo González, Rafael Tudares, has been held hostage and has been missing since January 7. I speak to you from hiding because the regime also intends to arrest me.

Mr. President,

This is not a conventional tyranny. Venezuela is a country held hostage by a criminal system. The regime is left with nothing but repression and terror, which is a sign of its own weakness. The world cannot ignore this horror. This Council, the Fact-Finding Mission, and the Office of the High Commissioner must intensify their efforts and remain steadfast. It is time for international justice to move forward. We Venezuelans have spoken, voted, and fought, and we will not rest until we achieve our freedom.

Señor Presidente,

Venezuela es hoy una de las crisis de derechos humanos más graves del mundo. Lo ha dicho la Misión de Determinación de los Hechos, el Alto Comisionado, y lo confirman cada día las miles de víctimas de torturas, desapariciones forzadas y persecución política.

Después de la derrota de Maduro en las elecciones del 28 de julio, el Estado venezolano ha desatado una escalada represiva brutal, sin precedentes. Más de 2000 personas han sido detenidas arbitrariamente -incluyendo a niños, mujeres, activistas- por exigir el derecho a su voto. Los miembros de nuestro comando de campaña cumplen un año atrapados en la Embajada de Argentina sin electricidad, agua y productos esenciales, negándoles los salvoconductos. Líderes políticos y sus familiares han sido detenidos arbitrariamente o desaparecidos, como los defensores de derechos humanos Rocío San Miguel y Javier Tarazona, que siguen encarcelados en condiciones inhumanas. El yerno del Presidente Electo Edmundo González, Rafael Tudares, permanece secuestrado y desaparecido desde el 7 de enero. Yo les hablo desde un lugar de resguardo, porque el régimen también quiere detenerme.

Señor Presidente,

Esta no es una tiranía convencional. Venezuela es un país secuestrado por un sistema criminal. Al régimen sólo le queda la represión y el terror, y eso es síntoma de su propia debilidad. El mundo no puede ignorar este horror. Este Consejo, la Misión de la Determinación de los Hechos y la Oficina del Alto Comisionado deben profundizar su labor y mantenerse firmes. Es hora de que la justicia internacional avance. Los venezolanos hemos hablado, votado y hemos luchado; y no descansaremos hasta lograr nuestra libertad.

María Alejandra Aristeguieta 

Director at Vision 360, UN correspondent for El Nacional, Ambassador to Switzerland and the UN, human rights defender, and former Chief of Cabinet at Foreign Trade Institute.

 

Full Remarks (Spanish translation below):

I am Maria Alejandra Aristeguieta, former Ambassador and member of the International Political Council, adviser to our political leader Maria Corina Machado, and to our candidate Edmundo Gonzalez’s campaign. Today I will be moderating our press conference.

I want to start by thanking you for your presence here today and to UN Watch for organizing this encounter with the media.

UN Watch has been a key partner, both in Geneva and New York, and has provided long-standing support to many Venezuelan victims in our quest for freedom and democracy. 

We have convened this meeting a mere 5 days before Venezuela’s presidential election on July 28, 2024, because as we approach this pivotal moment, and despite a clear +30% margin in favor of the democratic candidate Edmundo González, there are increasing signs of potential electoral fraud by Maduro’s regime violating both, the Venezuelan Constitution and the Barbados Agreement negotiated under the auspices of the Kingdom of Norway where all sides agreed on electoral conditions –now being infringed. 

Not only were 7.5 million Venezuelans living abroad obstructed from voting but more recently, voters find themselves to have been moved or migrated to a different polling center. This is quite often in different states, not only in their neighborhoods.

The Maduro regime obstructs the presence of international media, intimidates and persecutes voters and anyone perceived as opposition, carries out social control through different means, and increasingly, arbitrarily detains national and regional political leaders but also anyone who hosts, helps or provides a service to the candidate or to Maria Corina Machado.

The Maduro regime threats a bloodbath, a civil war — where only the Security Forces and the military have weapons — to stop gas distribution, or to leave Venezuela in a blackout, and cut the state-controlled internet. This is all part of the menu – or should we say, the well-known autocratic playbook.   

This is no ordinary election. This has become a social movement, a grassroots movement in the quest for freedom and the regaining of democracy, and with it, the rule of law and human rights. According to most survey polls, if elections were to be free and fair, Edmundo González would win by a landslide of 60 to 38%. 

To discuss these issues and the international implications, I am joined today by some of my colleagues. Allow me very quickly let you know who they are: 

Milos Alcalay: Former Venezuelan Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador in Brazil, Israel, Romania, and at the United Nations.

Diego Arria: Former Security Council President, Ambassador at the UN, Adviser to Kofi Annan, creator of the Arria Formula, Governor of Caracas. 

Elisabeth Burgos: Former Director of La Maison de l’Amérique Latine in Paris and l’Institut Culturel Français in Seville, formerly close to Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution. 

Humberto Calderon Berti: Former Energy and Foreign Affairs Minister, former President of PDVSA, Ambassador in Colombia. 

Last but not least our coordinator, Antonio Ledezma: Political leader, former Mayor of Caracas, and Parliamentarian, and he was arbitrarily detained in a high-risk military facility for 2 years.

Milos Alcalay

Former Venezuelan Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador with pivotal roles in Brazil, Israel, Romania, and the United Nations.

 

Transcript (English translation below)

Yo voy a ser muy breve y voy a pedirte, Maria Alejandra, que pongamos a circular el texto que había pensado intervenir porque creo que tenemos en esta ocasión los protagonistas, los actores fundamentales de la Venezuela del mañana. Los representantes a cada uno de ellos no voy a repetirlo, pero tienen mucho que decirnos cada uno por esa Venezuela que vamos a construir.

Lo que yo comenzara diciendo y llamando a la prensa internacional que nos acompaña en estas últimas horas antes del 28, antes de este domingo, el 28 de julio, que son horas de angustia, porque sabemos que estamos en unas elecciones en dictadura, en totalitarismo, y cada día en las trampas y triquiñuelas que planteaba Maria-Alejandra están presentes, pero a pesar de la angustia hay también como nunca una esperanza de que nosotros vamos a salir de este cuarto de siglo de atropellos que hemos vivido.

En mi texto inicial, destacó todo lo que ha sido esa dramática situación de aplastar al ciudadano venezolano. Pero eso mismo es lo que nos ha generado, por primera vez, la posibilidad de una primavera venezolana, de una explosión social, sin parangón en la historia, porque el binomio María Corina Machado – Edmundo Gonzáles Urrutia se ha convertido en una esperanza no solamente política porque hemos tenido dirigentes carismáticos en el pasado. El mismo Chávez tuvo en una ocasión, la promesa de un cambio democracia y se convirtió en un atropello, en autocracia o dirigentes como Carlos Andres Perez que tuvieron también carismaticamente una respuesta.

Maria Corina es hoy un fenómeno político que arrastra también una realidad espiritual que va mucho más allá de lo político. por eso es que el 80% de venezolanos hoy, si vas al metro, si vas a la calle, si vas a la universidad, si vas a los sitios de trabajo, ves que hay una esperanza de cambio y ese cambio es el que los dirigentes dentro y fuera del país han realizado.

Hay un libro de Diego Arria hace un tiempo, que habla de que hemos llegado a la hora de la verdad, hemos llegado a la hora de la verdad. Y esa hora de la verdad es absolutamente innegable con más del 80 % de venezolanos, que quieren salir del régimen. 

Lo que también es innegable es que nos encontramos ante un gobierno orwelliano que habla de paz pero es guerra, que habla de amor pero es odio.

Y ya el mismo Maduro lo ha anunciado en su conferencia de que el presidente ideologizado, militante, del Consejo Nacional Electoral Elvis Amoroso, va a anunciar, contra el viento y marea, por las buenas o por las malas, el triunfo de Maduro que se basta con ver en las escuálidas  manifestaciones para saber que el triunfo está del lado de la oposición. 

Y de una oposición que es el reflejo de toda una nueva realidad democrática. 

Allí están evidentemente Maria Corina como dirigente liberal, pero allá están unidos, ex-chavista, socialistas, demócratas-cristianos, independientes, trabajadores, empresarios en búsqueda de la democracia y de la libertad.

Y por último y aquí me voy a detener. no estamos solos, y le pedimos a la prensa que no nos deje aislados frente a la mentira que ya está preparando el régimen autoritario, que no hagamos papel de avestruz, sino de denuncia de lo que es la verdadera expresión popular.  Contamos no solamente con los líderes democráticos del mundo, sino que hasta a la izquierda democrática se ha  opuesto a esa caricatura de la realidad de un modelo al estilo Nicaragua o Cuba y qué esa izquierda en las últimas declaraciones de Lula en que recomienda Maduro que un político después de las elecciones no debe amenazar con ríos de sangre y con guerras civil, sino reconocer la voluntad popular. 

Se suma entonces  a declaraciones del presidente Boric, a declaraciones de ex-presidentes de la izquierda democrática, como el ex-presidente Mujica de Uruguay, y finalmente toda la esperanza de una América Latina que no vaya a depender de esas fuerzas extrajudiciales, pro-terroristas, pro-narcotráfico, y si por la construction una unidad de las naciones.

Muchas gracias a UN Watch que nos ha acompañado en diversas luchas y batallas por la democracia. Quiero expresarles la fe, la esperanza, que vamos a lograr el cambio. Ojalá el cambio se haga en paz con respeto al resultado mayoritario de los venezolanos, pero el cambio es irreversible, y ese cambio será por la vía electoral o no será.  

English translation: 

I am going to be very brief and I will ask you, Maria Alejandra, to circulate the text of my prepared remarks because I believe that we have, on this occasion, the protagonists, the main actors of the Venezuela of tomorrow.  You introduced each one of them, I am not going to repeat it, but each of the representatives here today has a lot to say about the Venezuela that we are going to build. 

I will start by calling to the international press that is accompanying us in these last hours before the 28th, before this Sunday, which are hours of anguish, because we know that we are having elections in a dictatorship, in totalitarianism, and that every day the traps and tricks that Maria-Alejandra brought up are present, but in spite of the anguish, there is also a hope like never before that we will escape from this quarter century of abuses that we have endured. 

In my initial remarks, I highlight this dramatic situation of the crushing of the Venezuelan citizens. But that is also what has generated, for the first time, the possibility of a Venezuelan spring, of a social explosion, unparalleled in history, because the Marina Corina Machado – Edmundo Gonzalez team has become a symbol of hope, not only politically, because we have had charismatic leaders in the past. Chavez himself once held the promise of a democratic change which turned into a flood of autocracy, or leaders such as Carlos Andres Peres who also had a charismatic appeal. 

Today, Maria Corina is a political phenomenon that also brought on a spiritual reality that goes far beyond the political. 

That is why 80% of Venezuelans today, if you go to the subway, if you go on the streets, if you go to universities, if you go to workplaces, you see that there is hope for change and that change is the one that the leaders inside and outside of the country have made. 

There is a book from some time ago by Diego Arria that talks about the fact that we have arrived at the hour of truth, we have reached the moment of truth. And that hour of truth is undeniable, with more than 80% of Venezuelans that want to get rid of the regime. 

What is also undeniable is that we are facing an Orwellian government that speaks of peace but is war, that speaks of love but is hate. 

And Maduro himself has already announced, in a speech, that the ideologized, militant president of the National Electoral Council, Elvis Amoroso, is going to announce, regardless of what happens, by hook or by crook, Maduro’s victory, and it is enough to look at the many demonstrations to know that victory is on the side of the opposition. And of an opposition that is the reflection of a whole new democratic reality. 

There is Maria Corina as a liberal leader, but there are united, former Chavistas, socialists, Christian democrats, independents, workers, and businessmen in search of democracy and freedom. 

And finally, and here I will end, we are not alone and we ask the press to not leave us isolated in the face of the lie that the authoritarian regime is already preparing, that we do not stick our heads in the sand but announce what is the true popular expression. We count not only on the democratic leaders of the word, but even on the democratic left that is opposed to this caricature of reality of a model in the style of Nicaragua or Cuba, and what this left, in the last statement of Lula, advises Maduro that after an election a political should not threaten rivers of blood and civil wars, but should recognize the will of the people. This, in addition to the statements made by President Boric, to statements made by former presidents of the democratic left such as former President of Uruguay Mujica, and finally all the hope for a Latin America that will not depend on an extrajudicial force, pro-terrorist, pro-narco trafficking, and instead for the construction of a unity of nations. 

Many thanks to UN Watch, who has accompanied us in various struggles and battles for democracy. I want to express my faith, my hope, that we are going to achieve change. I hope this change will be made in peace, with respect for the results of the majority of Venezuelans, because the change is irreversible, and that change will be made through an electoral route, or another. 

Thank you very much.  

 

Diego Arria

Former Security Council President, Ambassador at the UN, Adviser to Kofi Annan, Inventor of the Arria Formula, Governor of Caracas, UN Watch Advisory Board Member.

 

Transcript (Spanish translation below):

Thank you so much. Good morning. I should say at the beginning, I am a member of the International Advisory Board of UN Watch, something that makes me very proud. 

You know, listening to my good friend Milos, so many people all over the world have asked me the same question: why, if there is so much fraud, so much persecution, so many criminals in charge of the government, why are you participating in an election? And I say, Well, this is not a regular election. This is not even a competition. This is a fight for liberty and dignity, and of a country that is trying to recover what they have lost in 25 years, which means the disintegration of the Venezuelan family, which today, numbers close to 8 million people all over the world. 

This fragmentation of the Venezuelan family has been one of the worst blows to our life. I think the international community in general has been very lenient in describing Maduro. Like if Maduro was a typical autocrat. No. Maduro is the head of a criminal corporation because that’s what the armed forces are today. This is not the Chilean armed forces of Pinochet who are really institutional. No, these are criminals. A criminal corporation that controls the narco traffic, controls the gold extraction of Venezuela, and many other things, and controls about 60 Venezuelan institutions. This is one part of the description. 

The second one: who is Maduro? Maduro, the United States has offered a $15 million reward for assistance to capture him, and his second man Caveo $10 million, almost the same amount. So if these are people who are wanted by the United States and other institutions, we can imagine what they are. 

Recently what came as a major surprise was what Maduro said: if the opposition wins, this will be a bloodbath. We cannot allow this. Because they are an oligarchy of hate. An oligarchy that wants to exterminate us. So of course, what they are doing is trying to frighten the democratic forces to participate, which I believe is today impossible. 

Whoever has watched the manifestations all over the country that María Corina Machado generates would know that this is impossible to stop. I was the head of the strategy of the first campaign of Perez, which we thought was the best campaign in Venezuela. Well, this is even much more important. This is much more emotional. This is even much more legitimate because it gathers people, like Maria Alexandra said, from all walks of life. And we have today a very integrated Venezuela. 

So I believe that the fraud is not beginning… it will not start on Saturday, on Sunday. The fraud is beginning since the day that they eliminated María Corina to be a candidate for president. Why? Because they knew they would be completely defeated. But now, on the 28th, with the help of the international community, international media will be able to communicate to the world the real reality of Venezuelan liberation. Because it will be a liberation campaign to regain freedom and to regain dignity. Thank you. 

……

I thought that my time had expired, and I left aside something which I believe is the most important issue. 

The government has a law, what they call the law of communal power. They have it ready. They haven’t published it. But what does it mean? Maduro, on public radio, and television sets, on August 26th, “I will convoke a national referendum to put an end to representative democracy and to create and to give the power to the comunas.” 

What are the comunas? The comunas are units of people all over the country, exactly, exactly like the Cuban model, which has been applied for many years. So Maduro… the first sign of defeat is already announcing, that they will create, they will impose this law of the communal – what does that mean? 

It means that they will take all the powers, the same from Edmundo Gonzalez, elected president. They would take from him all the powers of the presidency and give all the powers to the communal units, meaning there would be a complete washout of whatever is left of democracy. 

That to me means that they know that they have lost the election, that they will lose the election, so they must be ready for a way to stop that that election could mean the exit of the people of government. Thank you. 

Spanish Translation:

Debería decir al principio queue soy miembro del Consejo Asesor Internacional de UN Watch algo que me hace sentir muy orgulloso de ser.

Escuchando a mi buen amigo Milos tanta gente en todo el mundo me ha preguntado la misma pregunta ¿Por qué, si hay tanto fraude tanta persecución, tantos criminales a cargo de el gobierno, por qué participa en unas elecciones? Dije bueno, esto no es un elección, esto ni siquiera es una competición.

Esta es una lucha por la libertad y la dignidad de un país que intenta recuperar lo que ha perdido en veinticinco años, que no es sólo colonial. Significa la desintegración de la Familia Venezolana que hoy en día cerca de ocho millones personas, por todo el mundo. La fragmentación de la familia Venezolana es uno de los peores golpes de nuestra vida.

Creo que la comunidad internacional en general ha sido muy indulgente al describir a Maduro, como si Maduro fuera un autócrata típico. No, Maduro es el jefe de una corporación criminal porque así son hoy las fuerzas armadas en Venezuela. Esta no es la Fuerza Aérea de Chile de Pinochet, que son realmente una institución. No, estos son criminals. Es una corporación criminal que controla el narcotráfico, controla la extracción de oro de Venezuela y muchas otras cosas y controls unos sesenta de la institucións en Venezolana. Esta es una parte de la descripción.

El segundo ¿quién es Maduro? Estados Unidos ha ofrecido quince millones dólares de recompensa por ayuda para capturarlo. Y Diosdado Cabello, diez millones dólares y notar la cantidad. Así que si estas son las personas que se buscan por los Estados Unidos y otras instituciones, usted puede imaginar lo que son recientemente.

Lo que fue una gran sorpresa, Milos dijo fue cuando Maduro dijo que si la oposición gana será un baño de sangre. No podemos permitirlo porque son una oligarquía de odio, una oligarquía que quiere exterminarnos. Así que, por supuesto, lo que están haciendo es tratando de asustar a las fuerzas democráticas de participar, lo que creo que hoy es impossible. Quien haya visto las manifestaciones en todo el país que ha generado María Corina Machado. Sabemos que es imposible detener esto.

Yo era el responsable de la estrategia de la primera campaña de Carlos André Pérez, queue nos pareció la mejor campaña de Venezuela. Esto es mucho más importante. Esto es mucho más emocional. Esto es incluso mucho más legítimo porque reúne a personas, como dijo María Alejandra, de todas las clases sociales.

Y hoy tenemos una Venezuela muy integrada así que creo que el fraude no está empezando o empezará el sábado, o el domingo el fraude comienza desde el día en que eliminaron a María Corina para ser candidata a la presidencia.

¿Por qué?

Porque sabían que serían completamente derotados. Pero ahora, el día veintiocho, con la ayuda de la comunidad internacional los medios internacionales, vamos a poder comunicar al mundo la verdadera realidad de la liberación Venezolana. Porque será una campaña de liberación para recuperar la libertad y recuperar la dignidad.

……

Dejé de lado algo que creo que es la cuestión más importante.

El gobierno tiene una ley.

¿A qué llaman ley?

El poder comunal. Lo tienen listo. No lo han publicado, pero ¿qué significa?

Maduro declaró el 26 de agosto en la radio y la televisión públicas convocaré un referéndum nacional para poner un fin a la referencia a la democracia representativa y dar el poder a las comunas.

¿Dónde están las comunas?

Las comunas son unidades de personas de todo país, exactamente igual que el modelo cubano que han aplicado durante muchos años. Así que, Maduro, la primera señal de derrota esta anunciando ya que van a crear, van a imponer esta ley de la comunidad.

¿Qué significa eso?

Significa que tomarán todos los poderes, digamos de Edmundo González, presidente electo le quitarán todo los poderes de la presidencia y dar todos los poderes a las unidades comunales lo que significa que el uso será completamente lavado o lo que le quede a la democracia que para mí significa que saben que han perdido las elecciones, que van a perder las elecciones, por lo que deben estar listos para una forma de parar que esa elección podría significar la salida de personas del gobierno.

Elisabeth Burgos

Former Director of La Maison de l’Amérique Latine in Paris and l’Institut Culturel Français in Seville, formerly close to Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution.

 

Transcript (English translation below):

Hola, que tal. Buenas tardes. Ante todo quiero agradecer a  la colaboración de UN Watch en nuestra lucha por la recuperación y la restauración de la democracia en Venezuela.

Tenia problemas de comunicacion, no se que lo habra dicho antes pero recuerdo que la comunidad internacional siempre expresó críticas hacia lo que era la oposición venezolana porque le faltaba un liderazgo propio y una unidad. Esas condiciones ya están dadas. 

Ese proceso histórico de ruptura violenta fue un poco difícil para comprenderlos a los venezolanos, de allí esa  tardanza para llegar a ese punto de unidad que tenemos hoy. 

No solamente eso, sino que hubo unas  primarias donde el pueblo habló y manifestó su deseo y lo  manifestó muy claramente dándole 93%, más de 93 % Maria Corina Machado, que resultó la portavoz del sentimiento que el pueblo venezolano, después de 25 años de dictadura chavista, manifestó y ese pueblo, el más popular que también seguramente había votado por Chavez se dió cuenta de que el chavismo ya era algo del pasado, que era un pasado, además con el fracaso evidente que había sido un fracaso y que no tenía futuro. 

Esa noción de no tener futuro, de ver a la familia irse de Venezuela sobre todas las clases medias profesionales, y también la idea a decir, personas que dejaron a sus hijos a cargo de sus padres, decir niños con los abuelos. 

Eso significó una ruptura del tejido social venezolano y el pueblo ya no aguantó. Hasta ahora habían aguantado muchas cosas bien, incluso aprendido a vivir con la dictadura.

Esa ruptura de la familia, que es lo más sagrado sobre todo en  las clases populares venezolanas significó un esclarecimiento de lo que era el régimen y de un punto final ya más de esto no podemos aguantar y lo manifestaron de una forma pacífica.

Primero en las primarias donde claramente eligieron un liderazgo y unidad y demostraron la voluntad de pacifismo. Esa campaña electoral realmente es una rebelión popular que me recuerda mucho las rebeliones populares de Bolivia, donde yo he vivido, rebeliones populares pacíficas y de una forma intuitiva el pueblo venezolano lo ha hecho y han encontrado en Maria Corina Machado un portavoz y un especie de traductora de ese sentimiento que no lo podemos, no podemos traducirlo como hecho político de una forma teórica, sino un sentimiento de humillación de decir, ya, basta. 

En ese sentido creo que le toca ahora la comunidad internacional, después de haber hecho es esas críticas, no a la falta del nivel de la oposición venezolana, le toca ahora a la comunidad internacional demostrar y demostrarle al pueblo de Venezuela  un apoyo firme e incondicional a las elecciones de este 28 de julio, demostrando de antemano desde ahora mismo que no reconocerá el fraude que el régimen se presta a cometer, porque es evidente que el régimen no va a reconocer el triunfo electoral que está ya reconocido por todas las encuestas. Es decir, el éxito electoral ya está dado, es una  evidencia y el régimen se prepara para no reconocerlo y el país que es el que tiene en sus manos la forma de presionar al régimen venezolano de Nicolas Maduro es el gobierno americano y el presidente Biden tiene en sus manos antes de salir de la Casa Blanca de demonstar un gran éxito, que es la restauración de colaborar de una forma real con la restauración de la democracia en Venezuela. 

Esa presión no debería ser de una forma ingenua como hasta ahora se han comportado con  el régimen venezplano que le creen cuando el régimen dice que sí que va a aceptar las presiones, las acepta mientras están en una reunión y después hacen todo lo contrario. Arrestan a la gente, apresan a  los que participan en esta lucha pacífica y no pasa nada. El régimen adelantó las elecciones al mes de julio, cuando debían haberse hecho el mes de diciembre, preparando un plan de seis meses que van a tener entre el momento de las elecciones y el momento de la toma del poder para organizar todas las trampas que ellos saben hacer. 

Entonces, yo creo que la presión actual al régimen de Maduro es pedirle que reconozca el triunfo electoral de la oposición y que dimita inmediatamente además y no es algo inconstitucionalmente ilegal puesto que ellos están ya faltando a la legalidad constitucional habiendo avanzado las elecciones  en seis meses, en esos seis meses tienen la posibilidad de montar todas las trampas que saben hacer y todos los subterfugios 

Entonces, yo creo que la próxima campaña de lucha va a ser la de dimisión del gobierno y en ese sentido es que el gobierno americano debería hablar en este momento al régimen venezolano. Esa tiene que ser  la próxima campaña de lucha que va  a enfrentar la opresión venezolana y es sobre eso que se debería centrar la comunidad internacional. 

Y muchas gracias de nuevo por la colaboración que están prestando para denunciar este estado de hechos. 

English translation: 

Hello everyone, Good afternoon. 

First of all, I would like to thank UN Watch for their collaboration in our struggle for the recovery and restoration of democracy in Venezuela. 

I had communication problems, so I do not know what was already said but I remember that the international community always expressed criticism towards the Venezuelan opposition because it was lacking its own leadership and unity. Now, both of those conditions are already in place. 

This historical process of violent rupture was a bit difficult for Venezuelans to understand. Hence the delay in reaching the point of unity that we have today. 

Not only that, but there were primaries where the people spoke and expressed their desire – and they expressed it very clearly, giving Maria Corina Machado more than 93% of the vote, who ended up being the spokesperson for the feeling that the Venezuelan people have expressed after 25 years of Chavez’s dictatorship and these people, who had surely also voted for Chavez in the past, have realized that Chavismo was something of the past, that is in the past, and with all its failures, it was evident that is had no future. 

That notion of not having a future, of seeing the family leave Venezuela, especially the middle and professional classes, and also the idea of people who left their children in the care of their parents, that is, children with their grandparents – this signified a rupture of the Venezuelan social fabric and the people could no longer stand it. Until now, they have endured many things, they have even learned to live under the dictatorship. This rupture of the family, which is the most sacred thing, especially for the Venezuelan popular classes, offered a clarification of what the regime truly was and this was the breaking point, and the people expressed this in a peaceful way. First, in the primaries, where they clearly chose a united leadership and demonstrated a will for pacifism. 

This electoral campaign is really a popular rebellion that reminds me a lot of the popular rebellions in Bolivia, where I have lived – peaceful popular rebellions, intuitively, the people of Venezuela have done it and have found in Maria Corina Machado a spokesperson and a sort of translator of this feeling that cannot be translated into a political fact in a theoretical manner, but a feeling of humiliation, saying, enough is enough. 

In this sense, I believe that it is now up to the international community, after having made these criticisms of lack of unity in the Venezuelan opposition, to show and demonstrate to the people of Venezuela firm and unconditional support for the elections on the 28th of July, establishing beforehand, as of now, that it will not recognize the fraud that the regime is prepared to commit because it is evident that the regime will not recognize the electoral victory that is already recognized by all the polls. 

That is to say, the electoral success is already a given – it is evident – and the regime is preparing itself to not recognize it. The country that has in its hands the ability to pressure the Venezuelan regime of Nicolas Maduro is the American government, and President Biden has, before leaving the White House, the ability to exhibit a great success, which is collaborating in a meaningful way with the restoration of democracy in Venezuela. 

That pressure should not be in a naive way, as it has been in the past towards the Venezuelan regime– believing the regime when they say they will accept the conditions, they accept them during the meeting but then do the complete opposite. They arrest people, they imprison those who participate in this peaceful struggle, and nothing happens. The regime pushed forward the elections to July, when they were supposed to be in December, to prepare a 6-month plan for the period of time between when the elections occur and when the actual transfer of power is meant to take place, to set up all of the traps they know to make. 

So, I believe that the current pressure put on Maduro’s regime is to demand that he accept the electoral success of the opposition and resign immediately after, and this is not something unconstitutionally illegal since they are already violating constitutional legality by moving the elections forward by 6 months, and in those six months, they have the possibility to set up all the traps they know and all the deceitful tactics they know. 

So, I believe the next campaign in our struggle will be the resignation of the government, and it is in this sense that the American government should speak at this moment to the Venezuelan regime. And I believe that has to be the next part of the struggle that the Venezuelan oppression is going to face and that is what the international community should focus on. 

Thank you very much again for the cooperation you are providing in order to denounce this state of affairs. 

 

Humberto Calderon Berti

Former Energy and Foreign Affairs Minister, former President of PDVSA, and Ambassador to Colombia. Calderon’s extensive experience offers a critical perspective on the intersection of energy policies and political stability.

 

Spanish Transcript (English translation below):

Thank you very much to UN Watch for the opportunity that they have given us to meet with all of you this morning and this afternoon.

Venezuela was for many years an example of democracy and a thriving dynamism towards modernization. During the 20th century and part of this century, before Chávez came to power, Venezuela grew 6% per year for 50 years. The country was an attraction for the whole world. Millions of post-war Europeans went to Venezuela as well as people from Latin America. And our country was the envy of democracy and of booming growth and opportunities for people to rebuild their lives.

Today the situation is totally different. There are 8.5 million Venezuelans abroad who have had to leave for political reasons or for economic reasons to try to rebuild their lives abroad. This migratory pressure will continue if there is no change of government in Venezuela.

In recent surveys, it has become evident that 19% of the population currently in the country is willing to emigrate if there is no change of government seeking better living conditions in the neighboring countries and also, of course, in the USA.

Now, the country that grew, the country that was the envy of many other countries in the region and of the whole world today is a totally destroyed country. In Venezuela, the institutionality was destroyed. In Venezuela, the economy was totally destroyed.

Venezuela based its growth basically on the exportation of hydrocarbons. It became the main oil-producing country of OPEC in 1970. A reliable and secure oil supplier not only to the USA but the countries of the region also required the oil supply from Venezuela and also for Europe.

That condition has been lost because Venezuela’s oil was totally destroyed. From 3,300,000 barrels that we were producing when Chávez came to power currently, barely 800,000 barrels are produced. From 1,200,000 barrels refined in the national territory, currently, less than 300,000 barrels per day are refined. That is what explains why in Venezuela there is no gasoline, no diesel, and people have an absolute lack of transportation.

Not only has the oil industry been destroyed, the industrial sector has also been destroyed. Thousands of companies have been confiscated by the state. There is absolutely no respect for private property. The rest of the country, like telecommunications, is in a very bad situation. The roads, and the electrical infrastructure of the country that we had managed to cover 93% of the national territory with electricity, all the thermoelectric generation practically does not exist.

We are today supplying electricity to the country with what is left in Guri with hydroelectricity. But the thermoelectric plants which were thousands of megawatts at least around 20,000 megawatts, no longer exist. It was totally destroyed.

The country is in a chaotic situation totally destroyed, and it has to be rebuilt. This challenge of rebuilding the country could mean a great opportunity. And we have to see this opportunity for everyone for us, Venezuelans, and also for foreigners.

Why for Venezuelans?

Because Venezuela has enormous oil resources. And that the oil industry will have to be recovered. The recovery of the Venezuelan oil industry does not go through the state enterprise it goes fundamentally through private investment both international and national. We will have to open the doors of the country to international private investment in order to recover our levels of production and to have a source of income that will allow us to take care of the social debt which is gigantic because schools do not work, two days a week children in Venezuela receive an education. Because the health system in Venezuela has absolutely collapsed — the hospitals do not work.

There are not going to be resources to invest in state enterprises. The very serious mistake was made without a doubt of having derived enormous resources from the oil to create a clientelistic state. Well, what is going to be required now is to privatize all the state enterprises basically in order to divert those resources that were being diverted to the state enterprises, to cover the huge losses they were incurring, to divert them to attend to the social needs of the population.

Today, a teacher in Venezuela earns $20 per month a university professor with a PhD earns $50 per month. There is no possibility for the country to rebuild itself now. Reconstruction is going to be fundamental in its beginnings. Evidently, restoring the principle of private property that private property be respected and that the national oil sector be recovered, basically with private investment.

That there is legal security for the people for investors and that there are competitive conditions so that people have an attraction to come and invest in Venezuela. Obviously, this will require huge resources that the country does not have at this time, and the international community is not going to give Venezuela investment in public companies and in the oil sector either.

Those resources that will be obtained from the International Monetary Fund and from other international organizations will have to be used fundamentally to attend to the social needs of the population. But it will require the existence of legislation, as promised by candidate Edmundo González and María Corina Machado, that respects investments. There is an opportunity for Venezuela to recover the place it had for many years as a safe and reliable supplier of oil to the whole world.

And this can only be achieved with the participation of the private sector. The country, I repeat, I insist, is going to need to be rebuilt. The reconstruction of the country is going to mean an opportunity. The electric power sector, the oil sector telecommunication routes, the education sector the health care sector, and medical care, all will need to be rebuilt and for this the investment of the private sector is fundamental.

We count on the private sector for the recovery of the country that will come which will be presented fundamentally after the elections and we have the fortune that upon winning the elections then there is a certain possibility that there will be a change of government.

 

Antonio Ledezma

Political leader, former Mayor of Caracas, and Parliamentarian arbitrarily detained in a high-risk military facility for 2 years, International Political Council Coordinator

 

Spanish Transcript (English translation below): 

Muchas gracias, Maria-Alejandra, por hacer posible este importante evento. 

Millones de ciudadanos venezolanos nos encontramos a las puertas de cumplir una hazaña épica, que deberá ser registrada en la historia de los pueblos. Los venezolanos estamos confirmando que rendirnos jamás fue una opción, muy a pesar del hostigamiento al que, pueblo y dirigentes hemos sido sometidos. El valor, la persistencia y la capacidad para reinventarnos en cada tramo recorrido, con aciertos y errores, ha sido la piedra angular para poder continuar esta lucha que nos conduce a una contundente victoria electoral el próximo domingo 28 de julio.

Amigas y amigos, televistas del mundo, aquí nos tienen, unidos como tantas veces nos los pedían en cada foro internacional. Aquí nos ven, transitando la ruta electoral, tal cual como muchos de Ustedes nos aconsejaban pidiéndonos que no nos dejáramos descarrilar de esa vía de lucha pacífica. 

Hemos podido superar y dejar atrás las maniobras de los diálogos simulados y de las operaciones maliciosas para impedir que realizáramos las elecciones primarias. Nos sobre pusimos a las arbitrarias inhabilitaciones y a las extorsiones y viles infiltraciones para doblegar a quienes lamentablemente terminaron humillándose ante la dictadura. Los venezolanos no hemos dejado de defender nuestros ideales democráticos, aun en medio de una catástrofe humanitaria compleja que ha aventado al destierro a más de 8 millones de ciudadanos, mientras que a la par, dentro del territorio nacional, estremecidos por un vendaval de persecuciones traducidas en cárceles, torturas y asesinatos, sobreviven otros millones de compatriotas. 

Por eso no exageramos al distinguir como una proeza esta batalla cívica que nos coloca al borde de un triunfo labrado con sangre, sudor y lágrimas. Todas las encuestas realizadas por acreditadas empresas, la gigantesca movilizaciones que encabezan Maria Corina y Edmundo, le otorgan a nuestro candidato presidencial una ventaja amplia, y por lo tanto imposible de revertir por un régimen agotado, sin gestión que mostrar pero sí muy desprestigiado y repudiado hasta por los propios militantes originales del llamado Chavin implementar un descarado fraude sería el atajo que amenaza a tomar el candidato de la dictadura, a sabiendas de que tal ardid solo le acarrearía más rechazo personal y serios problemas a un país ya trastornado en todos los sentidos.

Me basta citar las recientes declaraciones del actual presidente de la Republica de Brasil, Ignacio Lula de Silva, quien le ha exigido a Nicolás Maduro que “si quiere contribuir a resolver el problema de crecimiento del país y la vuelta de los que se fueron, tiene que respetar el proceso electoral”. Seguidamente a dicho el presidente Lula que “en democracia el que pierde se lleva un baño de votos, no un baño de sangre”.

Ese ultimátum de Maduro representa un desafío inaceptable para el mundo libre. Atreverse a chantajear a los sectores democráticos, con desatar una guerra civil si se confirma, como indudablemente sucederá, la victoria que empujan Edmundo Gonzalez y María Corina Machado, da la medida de todo cuanto es capaz de llegar a hacer alguien que se sabe derrotado y que está desesperado. Por eso Maduro ha impedido que acudan a nuestro país los técnicos electorales de la Unión Europea y se adelantan a negarse a permitir la entrada a Venezuela de distinguidos líderes de Europa y de América, dispuestos a acudir en calidad de observadores en este histórico proceso que estamos a pocos días de consumar. 

Ante ese panorama descrito con la mayor objetividad, clamamos por la comprensión y solidaridad oportuna de todos los sectores democráticos del mundo para que nos asisten desde la distancia, en esta circunstancia tan apremiante. Muy especialmente a los medios de comunicación de alcance internacional llamados a transmitir la verdad de los hechos que acontezcan en Venezuela en las próximas horas.

Mucho más ahora, porque otro evento sumamente grave es el cierre de números medios de comunicación del país. 

De nuestra parte, ratificamos la indeclinable determinación de propiciar una transición pacífica y garantista para todos los sectores involucrados en esta disputa, sin que ello signifique “borrón y cuenta nueva” en un país en el que se han perpetrado los más abominables crímenes de lesa humanidad y cuyas riquezas han sido saqueadas a la vista de todos. Poner la casa en orden implica hacer justicia, pero sin confundirla con una “cacería de brujas” que solo conduciría a más complicaciones, como la crisis institucional a resolver perentoriamente, la superación de la pobreza generalizada, las dificultades de los servicios públicos y la urgente reconciliación y reencuentro de todas las familias venezolanas. 

El próximo domingo mostraremos al mundo un desfile cívico espectacular. Se espera que participen más de 15 millones de electores. 

Un pueblo unido, más allá de banderías ideológicas y colores políticos, saldrá masivamente a votar para rescatar su democracia y así volver a vivir en paz y con libertad. 

Confiamos en que los ojos de las instituciones consagradas para resguardar los derechos humanos, no dejarán de mirar todo lo que acontezca en Venezuela; confiamos en el desempeño eficiente de los periodistas que estarán pendientes de esta jornada y en que las Fuerzas Armadas venezolanas no harán otra cosa que hacer respetar la voluntad soberana de los electores y no cargar la pena de masacrar a un pueblo pacifico que se prepara para usarlo también damienta más sublime: el derecho a votar libremente. 

Muchas gracias por escucharnos en nombre de todo el pueblo venezuelano. 

English Translation:

Millions of Venezuelan citizens are on the verge of accomplishing an epic feat, which should be recorded in the history of our people. Venezuelans are confirming that surrendering was never an option, in spite of the harassment that we, the people and leaders, have been subjected to, bravery, persistence, and the ability to reinvent ourselves every step of the way, with successes and mistakes, has been the key to continuing this struggle which is leading us to a resounding electoral victory next Sunday, July 28th. 

Friends, television viewers of the world, here we are, united, as you have asked of us so many times in every international forum. Here you see us, going down the electoral road, just as many of you have advised us, asking that we not allow ourselves to be derailed from this path of peaceful struggle. 

We have been able to overcome and leave behind the maneuvers of feigned conversations and malicious operations preventing us from holding primary elections. We overcame the arbitrary disqualifications and extortions and the despicable infiltrations to subdue those who ended up humiliated before the dictatorship. We Venezuelans have not stopped defending our democratic ideals, even in the midst of a complex humanitarian catastrophe that has driven over 8 million citizens into exile, while at the same time, within the national territory, shaken by the gale of persecutions converted into prisons, torture, and murder, millions of other compatriots survive. 

That is why we are not exaggerating when we distinguish this civic battle, that pushes us on the verge of victory, carved with blood, sweat, and tears, as a great achievement. All of the polls conducted by reliable sources, the gigantic mobilizations led by Maria Corina and Edmundo, grant our presidential candidate a large advantage, that is therefore impossible to reverse by an exhausted regime without management to show but discredited and repudiated by even by the original militants of the so-called Chavismo, to implement a blatant fraud. That would be the fraudulent path the candidate of the dictatorship is threatening to take, knowing that such a scheme would only bring him more personal rejection and serious problems to a country already disturbed in all senses of the word. 

It is enough for me to quote the recent statement of the current president of the Republic of Brazil, Ignacio Lula de Silva, who has demanded of Nicolas Maduro that “if he wants to contribute to solving the problems of development in the country and the return of those who left, he must respect the electoral process.” President Lula continued by saying that “in a democracy, the one who loses gets a bath of votes, not a bath of blood.”

Maduro’s ultimatum represents an unacceptable challenge to the free world. Daring to blackmail the democratic sectors, with the threat of unleashing a civil war if the victory led by Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado, as will undoubtedly happen, is the measure of everything that someone who knows he is defeated and is desperate. That is why Maduro has prevented the European Union’s election observers from coming into our country and is refusing to allow entry into Venezuela to distinguished leaders of Europe and America, willing to come as observers in this historic process that we are just days away from. 

Against this backdrop, described with the utmost objectivity, we call for timely understanding and solidarity from all democratic areas of the world to help us from a distance in this very serious circumstance. Most especially to the media with international reach, called upon to transmit the truth of what is taking place in Venezuela in the coming hours. Even more so now, because another extremely serious development is the shutting down of several media outlets in the country. 

For our part, we confirm our unwavering determination to bring about a peaceful transition and guarantee for all stakeholders in this conflict, without wiping the slate clean in a country where the most abhorrent crimes against humanity and whose wealth has been plundered in full view of everyone. Putting the house in order implies justice, but this should not be confused with a witch hunt, which would only lead to more complications, such as the institutional crisis that needs to be solved imperatively, the overcoming of widespread poverty, the challenges of public service, and the urgent reconciliation and reunification of all Venezuelan families. 

Next Sunday, we will show the world a spectacular civic demonstration – more than 15 million voters are expected to participate. A people united beyond ideological flags and political colors, will go out en masse and vote to rescue their democracy and thus, to live once again in peace and freedom. 

We trust that the eyes of the institutions dedicated to safeguarding human rights will not look away from everything that happens in Venezuela; we trust in the efficient performance of the journalists who will be watching this day, and that the Venezuelan Armed Forces will do nothing other than make the sovereign will of the voters be respected, and not bear the shame of massacring a peaceful people who are preparing to use their most divine right: the right to vote freely. 

Thank you very much for listening to us, on behalf of all of the people of Venezuela.