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"Europe has a historic opportunity for Venezuela to regain democracy"

2020-09-07T18:06:31.223Z


Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles analyzes the new scenario of Venezuelan politics after opening up to participate in the parliamentary elections at the end of the year


Venezuelan opposition leader Henrique Capriles, in a file image Anadolu Agency / Getty Images

Last Monday, the presidential pardon that Nicolás Maduro granted to more than 100 prisoners and politically persecuted people moved the foundations of Venezuelan politics again.

It was the confirmation of an open secret.

The talks that the Government had been carrying out with a sector of the opposition, led by Henrique Capriles, very critical of the strategy of Juan Guaidó, whom about 60 countries, including Spain, recognize as interim president of the Caribbean country.

Over the days, the events happened.

Capriles (Caracas, 48 ​​years old) consummated his offensive and opened up to participate in the parliamentary elections scheduled for December 6, while launching harsh attacks against Guaidó's plan, whose interim government he described as the “Internet Government”.

Almost in parallel, the Maduro Executive sent an invitation to the European Union and the UN to attend the elections as observers.

Through a video call, in the first interview he gives after causing a new maelstrom in Venezuelan politics, Capriles tries to reduce the tension between the critical sector of Chavismo and points to Europe as the pillar of the steps that will be taken hereinafter.

Question.

You defend that you have not negotiated anything, but that there have been conversations.

Between whom and for what?

Reply.

Politics means generating agreements, seeking solutions for the people.

We are looking for any remaining chink of democracy in Venezuela to get in there.

There are people in Chavismo who are against everything or nothing, even if they show the opposite.

Chavismo is bigger than Maduro or her spokesmen.

Not all negotiation processes or conversations take place before a television camera.

All successful processes were underground.

We are seeking to open democratic paths in Venezuela.

If it will be possible, we do not know.

I cannot anticipate whether my tenure as a political leader has been successful or not, it is likely that it may fail, but I have to try.

If I begin to detail who are those who want to explore democratic paths, I simply put an end to those agreements and we get into the trenches.

The opposition in yours and Chavismo, well, no, the ruling party, too.

Who pays the consequences?

The poor.

Do not forget, the great majorities in Venezuela are not the ones that mark the opinion matrices.

Q.

But, since when have these conversations been taking place?

R.

I am seeking the release of Juan Requesens [deputy released at the end of August].

Since 2018. Juan is completely innocent.

Who released him?

I put a tweet, which was a sarcasm, but it was not understood that way, in response to a statement from the interim government where my personal efforts were discussed.

It was seen as a personalistic thing, but my ego does not betray me.

Requesens is not released by an army, he leaves as a result of the search for agreements, which still do not generate results for the bulk of the population.

I don't know if this electoral process, the search for that political fact, is going to be achieved, but we have to fight.

People say to me: again?

Yes, unfortunately again, we have no other.

It is a false dilemma to vote or not to vote.

The dilemma is to fight or not to fight.

The big question is how change is achieved in Venezuela.

It is not achieved by a military action that does not come, it will not come and the majority of Venezuelans do not want it to come.

Be careful with opinion matrices, because the great majority do not enter Twitter.

It is what I try to make visible.

Q. You

speak continuously in the first person plural.

Who are you referring to, who is next to you?

R.

This is not Capriles against Maduro nor is it the reissue of the 2013 presidential elections. It is Venezuela against Maduro.

What happens is that there is a lot of fear and I put my face, I take responsibility, it is what leaders do.

It is not that Capriles has a political calculation.

I dared to say what everyone thinks.

Some will say that dirty laundry is washed inside the house.

I have been asking for a correction, a change in strategy, a plan for more than a year.

It is not about giving it to Capriles, it is about presenting it to the country.

This is sold out.

What is coming, if there is not, is great hopelessness and a lack of understanding with politics.

People are stubborn with politicians.

Q.

When do you stop believing in the strategy of the opposition that Guaidó leads?

R.

I have already closed the chapter on differences.

I think that as of April 30, 2019 [the failed insurrection with some of the military] we came down a slide;

then came Operation Gideon [the paramilitary incursion in May this year] and then time.

If Maduro continues to have internal control, we cannot continue with the same strategy.

Politics moves, the world moves, there is the nose of the leader to review strategies.

The unit is not just a photo.

If I have to speak with Chinese, Russians, Turks, or with Cubans who have never loved me, with anyone who thinks differently from me, even authoritarian regimes, to stop the tragedy that Venezuela is experiencing, I will do it .

That is the job of a politician.

Q.

What is the difference between your strategy and the one proposed by Guaidó?

R.

It is not about dividing or confronting strategies.

The electoral option is one that rethinks the scenario.

I am talking about fighting for conditions.

In 2005, keeping our distance, we decided to give the Assembly to Chávez.

Our message was that this assembly was going to be delegitimized.

And Chávez made laws, appointed powers.

I don't know if we are going to go to the end, but we have to fight.

If we do not give it, it means that we already surrender.

That coming assembly is the one to designate the new electoral power, which is the one that will govern all electoral processes, including a possible presidential election.

What has given us strength in the face of the free world?

Have a legitimate power.

And that power turns five on January 5.

It is one thing for Maduro to cheat and put the king naked again, which would give us legitimacy.

The position in front wants to self-extend the Assembly, an interim government that has no internal control, a consultation that is not binding.

I do not want to miss this opportunity.

Who has a stellar, starring opportunity right now?

Europe.

For the first time in 14 years, the European Union has been invited to be an electoral observer.

That can open a space for negotiation so that this election does not end up being someone's calculation.

Europe has a historic opportunity to help this country regain democracy.

If there are conditions, this election can open new spaces for agreements that allow reaching a presidential election.

If we do things wrong, Venezuela can go from authoritarianism to totalitarianism, they would occupy all spaces of power.

The total Cubanization of Venezuela.

I am against that.

Q.

You, who are asking for the election date to be postponed ...

R.

No, sorry, I do not ask that it be postponed.

I ask that the conditions be evaluated.

My opinion is that a situation like this, with a pandemic, with deaths, with a destroyed health system, forces us to postpone the electoral appointment.

But as the Maduro regime has invited the European Union to come a mission, to evaluate, issue a report and put the cards on the table.

I know that Maduro has said rain, thunder or lightning, there will be elections on December 6.

He can say what he wants, but he has not defeated the pandemic.

And above any political calculation, an election will never be more important than the lives of Venezuelans.

Just as I avoided a civil war in 2013, I will be on the side of the Venezuelan life.

Q.

If the EU accepts the invitation to go with an electoral observer mission, even if the date is not postponed, would you participate?

A.

It is a completely different scenario.

I think what the EU should do is assess the condition.

If you say there is time, it is another political scenario.

It is not that Capriles participates, it is that there are many who today say that they will not fight.

Europe today has a historic role in the face of the Venezuelan crisis.

We already know the position of the United States, which is on top in the middle of a presidential campaign.

The Trump administration targets a voter because it knows they are giving them votes.

My issue is not who wins the presidency of the United States.

My topic is the situation of Venezuelans.

A pensioner earns two dollars a month.

That is the revolution.

The only thing that the revolution produces is hunger.

P.

What would you do, instead, if the EU does not accept the invitation of the Government?

A.

I cannot reveal my strategy to you.

If Europe declines electoral observation, the process in Venezuela is highly compromised.

This process without international observation… I am not an adventurer, I am a fighter.

A qualified international observer mission is essential in the institutional conditions that Venezuela is experiencing.

This CNE is not an impartial CNE.

I have always believed that beyond the rectors, the fight is at the voting tables, but there is a pandemic, there is no gasoline, therefore, that observation is needed.

The invitation is given as a result of the search for agreements, it is not that Maduro loves to invite the European Union.

It's not free.

Q.

What commitments have you acquired with the Government?

R.

This is not a barter, we are not exchanging things.

Sectors of the ruling party want politics to return and so do I.

But that requires that there are no prisoners, that there be no persecuted, that there are conditions.

This is a process of building trust.

To the extent that you show that you are willing to redemocratize the country, we are rescuing politics.

P.

But in that search for agreements, the Government will have asked something in return.

What have you committed to?

R.

It is not an issue that we have engaged.

If you want the opposition to participate, it has conditions.

That is what the Government is putting on the table.

Why do they want the election to go well?

I think the fight with the free world is very bad.

I also think there are internal pressures, including the military, who are dissatisfied, dissatisfied, and there are people who are taking accounts, avoiding an implosion.

I am not one of those who believes that an implosion is going to cause the opposition to rule, this is not 2 + 2.

There may be something worse, it can always be worse.

Q.

Beyond participation, in that search for agreements has it been raised as a condition that some sanctions be lifted?

A.

The penalties are not up to us.

Q.

How would you like to lift some sanctions?

R.

Sanctions should be used to negotiate that democracy returns to Venezuela.

And therein lies the serious mistake of those who believed that the sanctions were going to overthrow Maduro.

Sanctions alone do not bring down governments.

Q.

In a way, you are benefiting from a strategy that has not paid off, but it has served to corner the Government.

A.

As long as you are clear about what the sanctions are for.

There are those who thought that they were going to generate a bankruptcy in the Government.

You have to be very careful that if you apply sanctions outside the government it does not affect the social fabric, which, far from strengthening Venezuelans in the fight against Maduro, weakens them.

Sanctions can have the opposite effect.

Maduro does not run out of gasoline, Venezuelans do.

If we are weaker internally, that social fabric that you need to pressure the regime, you lose it.

Be careful not to weaken an already weakened social fabric.

To the extent that you are poorer, you depend more on the government, on food, on the little fuel ... That is what I have said to some friends in the United States: evaluate well how you are doing things.

Sanctions are pressure to negotiate democracy.

Q.

Who are those friends?

R.

I am not going to name anyone.

They are people from the Trump administration, also from the Democratic party.

The United States will also play an important role, it is in their interest that Venezuela redemocratize itself.

P.

One of the demands of the opposition and the international community is that all prisoners be released.

Is it a prerequisite if there is international observation?

R.

That is why Europe can help a lot.

Pressing a button does not change things.

Absolute freedom will surely depend on the relaxation of the international issue, of which I have no control.

Of course, everyone has to be liberated, politics must be the axis again.

Q.

What role has Spain played in these movements?

R.

In the case of Spain, I hope this does not turn into an ideological struggle regarding their positions on Venezuela.

This is a fight to live.

A patient in a hospital is not aware of whether you are from the left or from the right.

It is not about the European Union fighting with the United States, but I see that the Trump Administration does not have proposals that open spaces for negotiation.

Be careful, negotiate for what?

So that it stays ripe?

No, for democracy to return.

Maduro is going to have to do something.

Q.

But you are also posing to people the possibility of returning to a situation they have already been in, which is minority opposition.

A.

Right now, we don't know the end of the movie, but we have to fight.

I am not interested in the parliamentary election, but we have a problem, we cannot get away with it.

The period of the National Assembly is ending, we cannot self-extend it, we would lose legitimacy.

Those of us who have embraced the legitimacy that Parliament gave us, what are we going to do if not?

A government in exile?

We must change the game, beyond the election, to see if how many deputies we can have is secondary.

Totalitarianism must be avoided.

We know what Maduro is going to say, that the opposition did not want to participate.

We have to get him out of there.

Politics moves, the worst is when you think it is static.

Q.

Is unity in the opposition viable at this time?

R.

I believe that unity, which is a means, if it does not have a plan or strategy, it is of little use to people.

Unity is not a photo of leaders, it is not that several parties release a statement.

Unity is a means of achieving change.

My adversary is not Guaidó, my fight is against Maduro, it always has been.

If the unit has no strategy, it is intangible for the people, it ends up being irrelevant.

Q.

Have you spoken with Guaidó after the criticism you have launched against him?

R. I

participated in a G-4 [the group of the main opposition parties] and all the proposals were made.

I make public what everyone thinks.

I do not do it to generate controversy, I do it because if there is no intention to rectify and you want to lead us to the abyss, you have to put a brake on it.

Let's unite to save ourselves, not to die.

Q.

Last Friday, 277 names were registered on the Force of Change card.

Who are these candidates?

A.

The spaces were filled in for a timeline topic.

They are not final.

The Force of Change is a card that was created to accredit eyewitnesses in the elections against Chávez and that was reactivated by the mayors to compete in the council elections.

There is nothing truculent or dark.

What we have done is avoid being left out.

But they are not the candidates, because we are not going to present candidates until we have conditions.

Q.

What have been the criteria to pardon more than 100 prisoners and persecuted?

R.

The criteria I do not know.

If you want the deputies to aspire to be reelected or compete to remain in Parliament, you cannot have them with trials, in exile, in embassies, prisoners ... But that is a decision of the regime.

Are they all?

No. What is a sign that the struggle must be political?

Yes.

P.

On that list are not, for example, Juan Guaidó, Leopoldo López or Julio Borges, would you be willing to go to an election if they are not pardoned?

R. We

must continue to seek freedom for all.

There should not be a single prisoner.

The issue of the National Assembly is not something I want, we find ourselves with a toll in front.

The constitutional period ends.

What do we do?

I am sure that Maduro does not want us to participate in the elections.

We have become very predictable.

Imagine that the entire opposition says that they are not going to give you the election.

I assure you that Maduro postpones it.

I would like to eat the elephant in one bite, but it is not possible.

And the adversary knows it, that's why she always puts you to the extreme.

There comes the need to stop becoming predictable.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-09-07

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