This time it feels different.
As one watches a live broadcast of the presidential elections in Venezuela, those words echo in your mind. On Sunday, July 28, millions of Venezuelans around the globe were glued to their screens as the National Electoral Council announced Nicolás Maduro’s victory with 51% of the vote, compared to opposition candidate Edmundo González’s 44%.
Many are calling this the biggest fraud in Latin America; the opposition merely calls it “what was expected.”
What makes these elections different?
Venezuela, which once stood as Latin America’s economic leader, has spiraled into crisis since Nicolás Maduro assumed power in 2013. According to the Associated Press, “More than 7.7 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2014.” This is considered “the largest exodus in Latin America’s recent history.”
Over the years, Venezuela has had numerous questionable electoral processes tainted by irregularities, consistently proving disadvantageous to the opposition party.
In the 2013 presidential election, Nicolás Maduro narrowly defeated candidate Henrique Capriles amidst allegations of voter intimidation, irregularities at polling stations and misuse of state resources.
The controversial 2018 presidential election, where Maduro claimed victory again, was widely condemned as fraudulent due to vote rigging, coercion and the barring of key opposition candidates. These disputed elections culminated in Juan Guaidó, a opposition politician, declaring himself interim president in 2019. Guaidó obtained recognition from over 50 countries, as a response to the illegitimacy of Maduro’s 2018 reelection.
This election was no different. Months prior to the election, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was barred from running for office, so she appointed former Venezuelan Ambassador, Edmundo Gonzalez, to run in her place.
She recognized that ensuring the opposition’s victory would require implementing strong measures to guarantee transparency and fairness to reflect the will of the people, which has not been the case in past elections. And so, she enacted the first part of her plan.
Protecting tallies at all costs
“Against all odds, our [witnesses] protected the voter receipts with their lives throughout the night,” Machado wrote in a recent opinion article for the Washington Post. On election day, Machado appointed numerous witnesses in each electoral table to double-check the results from the tallies, known as “actas” or official voting receipts.
Venezuela’s electronic voting machines print tally sheets after polls close, detailing the votes for each candidate. Copies of the tally sheet are given to party representatives and electoral authorities for verification. Both parties should receive a copy by law. However, throughout the day “witnesses were denied access” to voting centers and were not given copies of the tallies.
Despite electoral authorities announcing Maduro’s victory six hours after the polls closed, Machado and her chosen candidate, Edmundo Gonzales, held a press conference on Monday afternoon. They revealed, after counting 70% of the tally sheets, Gonzales had won the election with 80% of the vote.
“The truth is that Mr. Maduro didn’t win in a single one of Venezuela’s 24 states,” she wrote.
Transparency as their secret weapon
In the days that followed, the international community raised concerns about the fairness of the outcome. The U.S. and neighboring countries urged President Maduro to release the tally results to the public.
Machado had known Maduro’s regime would not recognize their victory, so she had another safety measure set in place. She revealed the opposition had developed a website featuring images of the tally sheets. This information was distributed to the international community.
International support is key
Another key difference in this election is international participation, with the U.S. being a primary ally. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols addressed the OAS Permanent Council Wednesday urging world leaders to support Gonzales’s claim to the presidency after Machado’s recent revelations.
“Given the overwhelming evidence obtained by documented proof of millions of votes cast, Maduro and his representatives should recognize Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the July 28 presidential election,” he said.
Nichols said the results provided by the opposition leaders clearly show an undeniable outcome. Even if the current administration provided any evidence to support their claim, there weren’t enough votes left in the remaining tally sheets to make up for the deficit.
“The world’s governments should also acknowledge Edmundo Gonzalez’s overwhelming electoral victory,” he continued. “Those that fail to do so are only enabling Maduro and his representatives’ attempt at massive fraud and disregard for the rule of law and democratic principles.”
The people standing united
Venezuela’s history of economic disparity between the wealthy and the poor is deeply rooted and complex.
After years of economic mismanagement and political instability, there is widespread dissatisfaction with the current government. The Venezuelan people have become disillusioned with the current leadership and are motivated to support candidates that promise significant change.
When the government electoral council declared Maduro the winner, the streets erupted in protest. This time, however, the response was unprecedented in scale. The demonstrations saw participation from a broad cross-section of society, transforming what was once a struggle of the few into a unified movement of the many.
This has not come without consequences for protestors. According to Foro Penal, there have been 11 deaths and 939 arrests since Sunday; 90 of the detainees were teenagers.
Social media has recently emerged as both the opposition’s most powerful weapon and its greatest vulnerability. Protesters have reported local authorities are actively monitoring videos and photos posted by the opposition on social media, using them as a basis for persecution without official warrants.
Individuals are being taken from their homes, afterwards losing contact with their families. Despite this, Venezuelans continue to document these incidents, recording family members being forcibly removed from their homes.
Even as Machado fights for a democratic resolution, she is hiding from prosecution as government officials recently ordered her arrest.
“I could be captured as I write these words,” she wrote in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed.
Even when unrest and violence escalates in Venezuela daily, the world is witnessing an unprecedented level of unity in the face of a common goal which has not been seen in 25 years.
Now what?
This time, the Venezuelan elections have taken a distinct turn, marked by unprecedented unity and transparency.
Machado’s meticulous and thought-out strategy, including the protection of tally sheets and the creation of a public database of voting records, has set a new standard for electoral accountability. Something the people of Venezuela have never experienced before.
Looking ahead, the likelihood of escalating unrest and continued international pressure on Maduro’s government seems high.
With the opposition’s strategic use of evidence and international support, these elections feel different. As the situation develops, it is crucial for the international community to remain engaged and informed. Awareness and advocacy can play a significant role in supporting the Venezuelan people’s quest for democracy.
Ultimately, these combined efforts bring back hope that real democratic change and justice might finally be within reach, offering a fresh chance for a better future for Venezuela.
Edited by: James Sutton
