At 7:35 p.m. last night, Secretary of State Tony Blinken issued a hard, arrogant statement announcing that Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González had defeated President Nicolás Maduro in the July 28 presidential election by “an insurmountable margin.” This has been confirmed by “independent observers,” he said, and “given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people” that Maduro was the loser in an election that “does not represent the will of the Venezuelan people.” Since when does Blinken have a clue about the “will of the Venezuelan people?” Since U.S. “allies and partners” consulted by Washington also agree, he said, it’s time for Maduro to begin discussions on a “respectful, peaceful transition” to a new government.
The Venezuelan situation continues to be very complex and dangerous, requiring the kind of skilled diplomacy demonstrated by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, who refuses to engage in useless confrontation when the danger of regional conflict and sabotage of the BRICS and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) are at the top on the Anglo-Americans’ and U.S. agenda. There are frustrations with Nicolás Maduro, who has yet to release the official vote tallies from July 28, as he promised he would do, and the delay is feeding into rumor-mongering that the vote tallies will show he didn’t win.
On July 31, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS), an organization controlled by the State Department, convened a meeting to discuss the Venezuelan electoral crisis and tried, but failed, to pass a resolution condemning Maduro and denouncing “fraudulent” Venezuelan elections. But OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, a longtime State Department asset, fueled tensions by announcing he is calling on the International Criminal Court at The Hague to issue an arrest warrant for Maduro, on grounds he is carrying out a “bloodbath” against the Venezuelan people, with massive arrests and repression.
In contrast, the next day, Brazil’s Lula met virtually with Colombian President Gustavo Petro and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, after which they issued a joint statement calling on Venezuelan election authorities to expeditiously publicly release the official vote tallies. They also “called on political and social actors to exercise the utmost caution and restraint in their demonstrations and public events in order to avoid an escalation of violent episodes"—which is not the intent of either the foreign-run opposition or its controllers. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, the real power behind candidate Edmundo González, is issuing statements from an unknown hiding place claiming her life is in danger from Maduro, and is calling for mass demonstrations nationwide on Aug. 3, undoubtedly planned to be violent.
The three nations offered to support efforts toward dialogue, emphasizing that the only way to deal with the “controversy” around the election is through “institutional means.” They stated “our absolute respect for the sovereignty of the will of the Venezuelan people, and reiterate our willingness to support efforts toward dialogue and agreements that benefit the Venezuelan people.”
