Venezuela’s Maduro Promises Peace and Dialogue Following July 28 Vote

Mexico City, Mexico, May 28, 2024 (venezuelanalysis.com) – President Nicolás Maduro promised a wide-reaching dialogue with all sectors of Venezuelan society following the presidential election on July 28.

“Venezuela is much bigger than that recalcitrant right, it has wonderful sectors that have emerged in the heat of these years of struggle,” said Maduro during his weekly broadcast. “There is a new Venezuela, with a new identity, more purposeful, persevering, constructive, innovative … and I am going to call on them to participate in the greatest dialogue that has ever been held, in the name of peace, stability, economic growth.” 

The Venezuelan leader has frequently urged dialogue as a solution for political tensions and emphasized a cross-sectoral engagement with political actors and representatives from civil society organizations after the upcoming vote. 

Venezuelan electoral processes have been previously marred by post-election instability, with the hardline opposition frequently labeling the result as “fraudulent” and with their supporting unleashing violent protests in an effort to overturn the outcome.

The Venezuelan president’s comments come as opposition leader María Corina Machado continues to campaign throughout the country. Her stand-in on the ballot, the Democratic Unitary Platform’s 74-year-old Edmundo González Urrutia, has largely avoided the campaign trail, keeping mostly to media appearances.

Machado, who saw a political ban upheld by the Venezuelan Supreme Court in January, has acted as a de facto candidate, holding political rallies across the country and urging followers to vote for González. A heiress from Venezuela’s elite, Machado has constantly relied on an extremist discourse, endorsing coup attempts and economic sanctions against the country. 

On Tuesday, teleSUR journalist Madelein García unearthed a 2018 letter from Machado to then Argentine President Mauricio Macri and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling on their support to oust Maduro from power by invoking the “responsibility to protect”, a concept promoted by interventionist politicians and academics that seeks to provide legal cover for the invasion of a sovereign state. 

Machado’s petition to Netanyahu drew fierce criticism on social media. The Israeli leader has come under heavy scrutiny over his role in the ongoing genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Karim Khan, the International Criminal Court prosecutor, recently petitioned the court to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over evidence that alleges he has committed crimes against humanity.

In contrast, the Maduro government has issued repeated statements condemning the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza and expressing solidarity the the Palestinian people.

For their part, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, led by ranking Chavista Diosdado Cabello, held its most recent demonstration in the heart of the 23 de Enero neighborhood in Caracas. The massive rally was spearheaded by the Panal 2021 Commune.

Maduro, who is seeking re-election for a third term in the upcoming election, shared positive economic indicators during a recent visit to Ciudad Bolívar in eastern Venezuela, boasting that the country had experienced 11 quarters of continuous economic growth.

“In the midst of the criminal blockade we are growing miraculously with diversified production,” Maduro affirmed.

Despite the return of US unilateral coercive measures, Venezuela has experienced positive economic growth, with the Venezuelan president likewise celebrating that inflation had come under control.

A recent poll by the firm Ideadatos showed Maduro with 52.1 percent support compared to González Urrutia at 21.6 percent. Opinion polling has been historically unreliable in the Caribbean nation, with some other firms showing widespread support for González over Maduro. 

The July 28 presidential election features 10 candidates in total, with outsiders such as Antonio Ecarri and Benjamin Rausseo aiming to capture undecided voters.

On Tuesday, the Venezuelan National Electoral Council withdrew its invitation for the European Union to send an observation mission to the upcoming vote. The country’s electoral authority pointed to the EU’s continued sanctions policy against the South American nation. It did reiterate its invitation to a number of multilateral bodies including CELAC, the African Union, CARICOM and the Carter Center.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.