What’s Happening in Venezuela Today? “The Danger of the Venezuelan Regime for Emigrants: Threats of Mass Deportations and International Persecution”

What’s Happening in Venezuela Today? "The Danger of the Venezuelan Regime for Emigrants: Threats of Mass Deportations and International Persecution"

The situation in Venezuela cannot be compared to any dictatorship in another country nor to the communist regimes known throughout history. The so-called Bolivarian Revolution arrived in 1998 through votes, supported by various political, business, and social sectors, and, of course, by the majority of the population who voted that year. Since that moment, the government has followed a path where they used and manipulated democratic rules, even legal norms, changing the constitution and taking control of all public powers, trade unions, and even professional associations. With the enormous amount of money that came in from oil sales, over $1.3 trillion, they were able to buy supporters within the opposition and many countries both within and outside the continent.

Throughout the 26 years of the revolution, numerous elections have taken place, many with notable fraud issues, but they’ve also made sure that in some, the opposition won victories in municipalities, states, and even the National Assembly.

So if elections have been won, why do we say there is no democracy?

In 2007, the Venezuelan opposition won a referendum against the Chavismo to prevent constitutional amendments. At that moment, Hugo Chávez’s anger was felt on national TV. Later, they slowly implemented these amendments. In 2015, the opposition won the majority in the National Assembly, but the election body controlled by the revolution prevented the swearing-in of several deputies. Every law passed by the assembly was sabotaged by the 100% Chavista Supreme Court until they created a Constituent Assembly that effectively replaced the National Assembly.

In regional elections, some municipalities have been won by opposition parties, but for governors, authorities called “Protectors” were appointed, with national funds assigned to them, preventing the proper functioning of those governors. In the case of mayors, they were denied resources, many were removed from office, imprisoned, or went into exile.

National political parties were intervened by the Supreme Court, which appointed new leaders loyal to the revolution, and other organizations were created by opposition figures who, comfortable with the revolution, gave an illusion of democracy within a 21st-century dictatorship.

For the July 2024 elections, the legal, comptroller, and electoral bodies of the revolution systematically undermined the opposition's path to primary elections and later presidential elections. The candidate María Corina Machado, and a replacement proposed by the opposition leader, were barred from participating, but one of the opposition figures who was more favorable to the revolution and governor of the Zulia state was allowed to register. After national and international pressure, the registration of former ambassador Edmundo Rodríguez Urrutia was accepted during an extension. After a disrupted campaign, where there were attacks on leaders, arrest orders, and detentions, the elections were held, and Edmundo González Urrutia was announced as the winner according to almost all official results from voting stations across the country. However, the electoral body, without presenting evidence and omitting the required audits, declared dictator Nicolás Maduro as the winner. From that moment, a violent persecution of national, regional, and local leaders began. Electoral witnesses, journalists, influencers, and even grassroots opposition members who shared data, expressed dissatisfaction, or called for action from international bodies were detained.

For this, they use the Hate Law and the Penal Code:

Article 21 of the Hate Law establishes sentences of up to 20 years in prison for anyone who, according to Venezuelan law, incites or commits hate crimes, discrimination, or violence against a person or group of people through any means, including social media posts.

Article 128 of the Venezuelan Penal Code defines conspiring against the homeland in collaboration with foreign enemies or a foreign nation as a crime. The penalty for this crime is imprisonment for 20 to 30 years. This article is used to punish anyone calling for sanctions, humanitarian intervention, or urging foreign countries or organizations to enforce what has been written in negotiations.

Today in Venezuela, anyone who opposes the dictatorial regime risks being persecuted and imprisoned in one of the torture centers managed by the Interior Minister, recognized as one of the most dangerous figures in the regime, wanted by American justice as part of the Cartel of the Suns.

“Venezuela is Fixed” – This idea is often mentioned to suggest social, economic, and political improvement in Venezuela. As mentioned at the beginning, the revolution arrived without violence but by violating human rights. Similarly, they built their revolutionary network within the institutions, including the armed forces. In other words, they arrived and took over without needing to bomb the enemy. The infrastructure they inherited from previous governments remains standing, albeit with minimal maintenance, creating a good image for use on social media.

After the hyperinflation in Venezuela, which destroyed the purchasing power, salaries, pensions, and savings in bolívares, the value of assets reached unimaginable levels, where a professional could earn the equivalent of $2 per month. A period of stability and slight growth followed. Now, the average Venezuelan salary is around $800 a month, the economy has dollarized, and there’s been a sense of improvement. However, retirees, teachers, and public health workers have been left behind, to the point that there is a severe shortage of teachers, and retirees must rely on family support.

In terms of services, a country that once exported electricity to Brazil and Colombia has been in an ongoing electrical emergency for almost 15 years, with daily blackouts across most of the country. Water, in one of the countries with the largest reserves, is scarce, with most of the population experiencing rationed service, sometimes just a few hours a week.

Public hospitals lack medical supplies, and patients are forced to bring their own medicines, medical equipment, and even bed sheets. It is common to see images of patients being operated on in the dark. Schools and high schools are in a similar state. The few remaining teachers must deal with malnourished students who attend classes without having eaten, often advancing through their studies without having seen basic subjects and sometimes passing grades without knowing how to read or understand basic math.

Of course, it’s easy for a regime that has stolen hundreds of billions of dollars to pay influencers and journalists to visit Venezuela and enjoy a country with dreamlike natural resources and cities that still carry the infrastructure inherited from past governments. They visit shopping malls and world-class restaurants created for the business and political elite, who were complicit in the plundering and can enjoy it without fear of being arrested abroad for money laundering. It’s also easy to find a population that enjoys beaches and recreational sites, but for that, you must remain silent and not express dissatisfaction over the lack of true freedom and quality of life.

Venezuelans don’t leave Venezuela to try their luck. Most left fleeing persecution, the fear of being killed or tortured, scarcity, severe health and sanitation problems, and a lack of opportunities.

It’s also true that some criminals have infiltrated these groups of emigrants, much like Fidel Castro did in Cuba when he sent thousands of criminals and sick people from the Mariel Port to the United States in 1989. Maduro and his regime may have done the same. Those of us who have lived through this revolutionary Venezuela know how hard it is to get the money to finance such a journey across so many countries. One possibility is that they were financed to destabilize, but it's also true that they are a minority. The majority are hardworking people, professionals, technicians, entrepreneurs, and skilled workers who left to fight for a better future.

Some in the U.S. government say Venezuela is safe, but it is the same government that also calls Venezuela a potential danger to the hemisphere, highlighting the risks of its ties with enemy regimes like Iran, China, and Russia. They accuse government members, including the dictator, the defense minister, and the interior minister, of being the heads of the Cartel of the Suns. The U.S. has sent a representative to negotiate the release of Americans held hostage by the Venezuelan regime, offering rewards for the main members of this dictatorship and imposing sanctions on governments that negotiate oil with Venezuela.

Understanding What’s Happening in Venezuela

The 21st-century revolution has used democratic tools, created a rule-of-law state, and a justice system to pretend to the world that there are no abuses or human rights violations. They used trillion-dollar resources to buy international partners who endorsed their narcoterrorist state for 25 years. They also bought opposition leaders to simulate pluralism. They have deceived the international community with negotiations they won’t honor. They release political prisoners as a peace gesture, only to immediately take new hostages for exchange. But today, there are multiple reports of crimes against humanity, narcotrafficking, money laundering, links with terrorist organizations, and evidence of a massive electoral fraud in international courts.

It might be hard to understand, but Venezuela hasn’t been fixed. The youth today do not have the possibility of a promising future. Many lives and freedoms are at risk. I’ve often used the analogy with the movie “Life is Beautiful” by Roberto Benigni, where the father tries to make his son see a normality in a concentration camp. This is what Venezuelans do every day.

Econ Daniel Ramirez