CONSTITUTING AN EFFECTIVE TRANSITIONAL GOVERNMENT IN VENEZUELA

Carlos Sánchez Berzaín
January 15, 2019

(Interamerican Institute for Democracy) Under the mandate of Articles 233, 333, and 350 of the Venezuelan constitution, Congressman Juan Guaido is the Transitory President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela with all due legality and legitimacy, but without an effective control of the Executive Branch.  President Guaido now has the initial and perilous task of removing dictator and usurper Nicolas Maduro to deprive him the use and manipulation of the instruments of power that he still holds by force and through criminal acts.  The first and very appropriate measure of President Guaido has been to call on “the Venezuelan people, the Armed Forces, and the international community to achieve the effective conformation of the transitional government.”

In Venezuela, with Juan Guaido as Transitory President of the Republic and Nicolas Maduro as a sitting powerful dictator, we are witnessing the battle between legality and legitimacy against the power of organized crime.  It is all about the Venezuelan peoples’ reason and freedom based on, and backed by, national and international law against the defiance of the Transnational Organized Crime group led by Cuba and comprised by Bolivia and Nicaragua and sustained by Mexico, Uruguay and El Salvador.

President Guaido has already been threatened by the regime who, through force, wants to imprison, torture, and force him to back down and take back what he said and acknowledge the dictator, or make the Transitory President disappear.  Previously, Castroist Chavist dictatorships have already operated this way without any boundaries to their crime and with impunity.  It is all the same to them to; imprison, torture, or assassinate.  There are myriad of examples such as; Oswaldo Paya in Cuba, the imprisonment and torture of Leopoldo Lopez and thousands of Venezuelans, assassinations, false accusations, and exile of political and civic leaders in Bolivia, and the on-going massacres now taking place in Nicaragua.

Venezuela’s dictatorship is expert on the application of Castroist methods and techniques to subject the people, among them is “to bend-down the enemy” that literally consists of “inclining or inducing someone to think or do the opposite of his intent, opinion, or action.”  The opposition to the Castroist Chavist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia, are full of examples of those who were “bent-down” and who now are functional for the regime with the guise of an opposition discourse.  In President Guaido’s case, this criminal scheme that includes threats, bribes, agreements, pardon, and whatever the regime thinks it will take, is no longer applicable because Guaido has crossed the point of no return.

We cannot ill-afford to leave the Transitory President of Venezuela, alone and exposed, and time is of-essence.  We must contribute to “the effective conformation of a transitional government” that he has asked for.  As a minimum, the following number of initial actions can be taken, and this list is not all-inclusive:

1- The conformation of a “national unity” Ministerial Cabinet with the participation of all of Venezuela’s political actors, parties, movements, and sectors -including those in exile- to comprise it with their top representatives and in such a way as to make it clear there is political participation and the decision to share in the personal risks along with the Transitory President.

2- The immediate acknowledgement of Juan Guaido as Transitory President of Venezuela by governments who comprise the Group of Lima, members of the European Union, the United States, democratic governments throughout the world, and by international organizations -essentially those of a financial nature- such as; The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the International Development Bank, and others, to end the illegal representation on behalf of Venezuela that dictator Maduro bestowed upon himself in those organizations.

3- A decision, publicly announced, by governments who recognize the Transitory President indicating that if he asks, they will commit under his command, enough units of their Armed Forces to guarantee an effective execution of the transition in case the hierarchy of Venezuela’s National Armed Forces (FAN) persist in remaining loyal to, and under the orders of, dictator Maduro.

4- The formulation of a “National Emergency Plan” that principally addresses matters pertaining to internal security and international actions for the capture and trial of dictator Maduro and obstinate members of his regime.  Those military and public officials who immediately offer loyalty and accept to be under the orders of the Transitional Government can be offered recognition and immunity.  Positions of those who remain under the command of the dictatorship shall be declared vacant in a time of no greater than 24 hours.

5- For reasons of national interest, the National Assembly shall be declared in permanent session for as long as time and matters of national interest require it, to approve necessary legislation and guidelines to sustain and ensure the success of the Transitional Government.

And when conditions of democracy have been regained, there are hundreds of things more, including the call for clean, free, and fair elections.   We shall see a new sunrise and we’ll see what happens. . .

*Attorney & Political Scientist.  Director of the Interamerican Institute for Democracy.

Published in Spanish by Infobae.com on Sunday, January 13th. 2019

Translated from Spanish by; Edgar L. Terrazas, member of the American Translators’ Association, ATA # 234680.