Former Ibero-American presidents demand more action to address the crisis in Venezuela

Several former presidents of Latin America and Spain met this Thursday in Miami, Florida, to address the consequences that Venezuela’s electoral crisis could have on the region, as well as the challenges facing the country, where repression against opponents has increased. , according to the opposition.

The political situation in Venezuela has worsened in recent months after a large majority of countries in the international community expressed doubts about the presidential election vote counting after the country’s National Electoral Council (CNE) gave as winner to Nicolás Maduro, even without presenting the minutes of the voting centers.

“We are facing an episode of violence and exodus that affects the American continent since the regime has not only plunged the people of Venezuela into misery, but has turned it into a gigantic prison,” said the former president of the Spanish government José María Aznar. .

The debate was organized by the IX Presidential Dialogue of the IDEA Group, a study center formed by several former presidents of Latin America and created with the aim of addressing the democratic challenges that exist in the region.

Pressure from the international community

Along these lines, the former Spanish president criticized the lack of action on the part of the international community to pressure the Miraflores Palace and “strongly” denounce Maduro’s actions regarding the presidential elections.

“Any voluntary blindness about the coup d’état is complicit in this attack against democracy. Since the same night of the coup d’état, the persecution and violence have increased and the international community is awaiting a reaction commensurate with the crime that is being perpetrated,” said the former leader of the Spanish Popular Party on Thursday.

The former president of Ecuador Osvaldo Hurtado, who also participated in the forum held at Miami Dade College, asked himself “What more can you ask of Venezuelans?” after, in his opinion, they had organized themselves for the elections, “going as one and leaving differences aside.”

“What more can you ask of María Corina Machado and the Venezuelan leaders if there is a political regime against which no legal and political body counts?” he added.

Given this, he insisted that a report from the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela “concludes that before, during and after the electoral process in Venezuela, crimes against humanity have been committed by the armed forces, the police and Maduro’s special repression groups.”

“The great culprit of these 2,000 murders is the dictator Maduro,” he reaffirmed.

For this reason, like his Spanish counterpart, Hurtado considers that the position of the international community will be key, especially with the role that the ICC could adopt.

“The previous prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (Fatou Bensouda) came to the conclusion that the government of Venezuela was responsible for crimes against humanity, but she was replaced by another prosecutor, Karim Khan, who until now does not endorse the report from his predecessor,” he lamented.

“As a consequence, the ICC cannot condemn Maduro for these crimes against humanity and those are one of the calls that we must make in this meeting and for the future,” defended the former Ecuadorian president.

Organized crime and politics in Venezuela

For his part, former Colombian president Andrés Pastrana also emphasized “the influence of organized crime, especially drug trafficking, on electoral results,” something that, according to him, has already been demonstrated in the past in several countries “due to the damage of illicit capital caused to politics, private business, journalism and democracy.”

“Drug trafficking has had an impact in several countries, I have experienced it firsthand. In Venezuela, today drug trafficking and government converge. The Suns cartel includes President Maduro and his closest family as the ringleaders, as well as Tareck El Aissami and Diosdado Cabello, on whom the DEA (US Drug Enforcement Administration) has placed a reward,” said the former head of the Colombian government.

On this issue, Pastrana recalled that several years ago he himself labeled “Maduro as the new Pablo Escobar and Diosdado Cabello as ‘Chapo Guzmán’” and, in a sarcastic tone, he said that “I want to remind them how they ended up.” in reference to the arrest of both drug lords.

However, Pastrana criticized what he considers “the double standards of the United States government” for putting “a price on the heads of drug traffickers, but then they send secretaries to talk to them.”

Impact on migration

During this session, which focused on addressing the situation in Venezuela, participants also warned of the increase in migratory flows in the region if this panorama “is perpetuated over time.”

According to a report from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), between July 29 and August 5, 2024 – after election day – “migration increased from 50 to 353” .

“Maduro’s castellation can have unpredictable consequences and the data already dimension the situation. In Colombia there are 3 million Venezuelans, 600,000 are in Bogotá. In the Department of La Guajiro, the population has increased by 25% with the arrival of 300,000 Venezuelans,” Aznar explained to illustrate the impact of this situation.

Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, former president of Costa Rica, also assured that if these political crises are not addressed, “migratory flows will continue to increase, becoming a growing problem.”

Joint work in the region

Despite all the challenges that the Latin American region faces due to the situation in Venezuela, the speakers at this meeting between former presidents of Ibero-America agree that they must work for democracy in Venezuela and find ways to solve it so that a transition can take place. democratic, convinced that the “true electoral records give victory to Edmundo González”, the Venezuelan opposition leader who ran for the presidential elections on July 28.

“We must do the necessary tasks to reach that goal, so that Edmundo González can be sworn in as president of Venezuela on January 10,” added the former president of Mexico, Vicente Fox.

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