In this 2023 file photo, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro meet in Caracas. (Presidential election)
Mexico City, Mexico, August 19, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro rejected proposals for a power-sharing agreement with the opposition and the possibility of holding new presidential elections, calling instead for respect for the country’s institutions and ongoing review by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).
The proposals came from the presidents of the neighboring countries, Gustavo Petro from Colombia and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from Brazil. Together with Mexico, the two countries, with the support of the USA, have appointed themselves mediators in the ongoing dispute following the elections in Venezuela.
Maduro flatly rejected the proposals, considering them an attack on Venezuela’s sovereignty, and reiterated his statement on Monday.
“Venezuela is not an intervened country, nor do we have guardians. We do not interfere in the internal affairs of others,” the Venezuelan president said in a televised address.
On Thursday, Petro suggested in a social media post that Colombia’s experience with National Front governments – under which the Liberal and Conservative parties agreed to a power-sharing arrangement between 1958 and 1974 – could serve as a model for Venezuela, as the opposition alleges fraud in the July 28 elections.
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner with 51.95 percent (6.4 million votes). The US-backed opposition candidate Edmundo González received 43.18 percent (5.3 million votes).
In a radio interview, Lula suggested new elections as a possible solution. This suggestion was also rejected by Maduro.
“(Bolsonaro) also called fraud and did not accept his defeat. The decision was made by the Brazilian court,” Maduro said when asked about his Brazilian counterpart’s proposal.
“We do not engage in microphone diplomacy,” he added.
Lula’s proposal was briefly welcomed at the White House before a spokesman walked back comments by President Joe Biden that seemed to accept the possibility of new elections. The confusion led Maduro to question how the Biden administration’s policies would be conducted.
“(Biden) expresses his opinion and half an hour later he is refuted by State Department spokesmen,” Maduro said. “Who is ultimately in charge in the United States?” he asked.
For her part, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado rejected the proposal for new elections and promised that González would take office next January. In recent years, the hardline opposition has consistently refused to acknowledge electoral losses and often responded with street violence.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also refused to support the proposal. Instead, he said his government would wait for the Venezuelan Supreme Court to decide on the matter. The Venezuelan Supreme Court had opened an investigation into the validity of the election results at Maduro’s request. The President of the Supreme Court, Caryslia Rodríguez, stressed that the court’s decision on the matter was final.
Citing two sources, Reuters claimed that Mexico had withdrawn from the tripartite initiative for Venezuela’s presidential election, but the mediating role of the three countries was exaggerated because they were not officially recognized by Venezuela.
Lula says he has not spoken to Maduro since the election, but is in regular contact with Petro. Maduro has officially stated that he is in contact with his Colombian counterpart, but only to discuss bilateral issues. Venezuela is the officially recognized guarantor of the Colombian peace process.
ALBA Movimientos, an umbrella organization of dozens of social movements from across the Americas, said in a statement that it also vehemently opposed the foreign proposals.
“The social and popular movements that know, love and defend the Bolivarian people reject the slightest idea or suggestion, such as that put forward by some ‘progressive’ sectors of the region, to undertake a diplomatic, political, military or other intervention in Venezuela aimed at de facto ignoring the result of an electoral process that has already been completed,” the statement said.
Both pro-government and opposition forces staged demonstrations over the weekend. Machado, despite claiming to be in hiding, appeared at an opposition rally in Caracas and addressed the small crowd. González did not attend.
The opposition attributed the lower-than-expected turnout to the heavy presence of security forces. The small crowds pale in comparison to opposition demonstrations over the years, including during the election campaign, which also saw the deployment of large numbers of police and security forces.
Meanwhile, government supporters held a large rally in front of the Miraflores presidential palace in the capital. It was the latest in a long series of demonstrations from a wide range of sectors to express their support for Maduro.
Published by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.
