A Cold Reality For This Hugo Chávez Fan: Maduro Has Killed Venezuelan Democracy

-Analysis-

BOGOTÁ — Latin America’s best people in government were always democrats. Some of our great reformers — like presidents Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, Joao Goulart in Brazil, Juan Bosch in the Dominican Republic or Salvador Allende in Chile — had the unequivocal backing of the ballot box, even if their tenures were cut short by coups or interventions of outside powers.

But we also had a duty to strengthen democracy and keep believing in it in spite of setbacks and betrayals. For otherwise, Latin America’s path would always be one of uprisings and dictatorship, and we deserve a calmer, more civilized fate.

For the continent’s biggest leaders of recent years, their dogged democratic vocation was the secret of their eventual victory. These included the Peronists in Argentina, Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, Evo Morales in Bolivia, Lula da Silva in Brazil, José Mújica in Uruguay, Rafael Correa in Ecuador, Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico and Gustavo Petro here in Colombia.

They were all “alternatives” to the political establishment in their countries. And they too have faced a dilemma — or better said, temptation — once in power that’s as harmful as any coup: namely, whether to break the rules of the game to dismantle the very democracy that assured their triumph.

Promise of Chávez

Some 25 years ago, Chávez took power in Venezuela because the continent’s wealthiest country was neglecting its people, and he gave its pampered elite a lesson in what can happen when you persist in your selfishness, vanity and cruelty. People cannot live, and live on for decades, in state of misery, marginalization and mental and physical irrelevance in this immense repository of wealth that is our continent.

I supported Chávez in his early years, and still believe he did some very important things for his people and for the dignity of Latin America. Today, I feel betrayed by those who claim to be his successors. I remember the enthusiasm he aroused among vast sectors of the people, and the tremendous opposition of powerful groups that backed a business strike, then an attempted coup (in 2002) that was swiftly thwarted by the people.

I did voice my disagreement with some of his positions, like believing Colombia’s FARC guerrillas to be as legitimate as Venezuela’s Bolivarian government. I wrote in this daily, “Nobody elected the FARC, and a good many deaths of our people are on their hands.”

I always felt Chávez’s first duty, as with any democratically elected government, was to respect democracy. I am not only convinced that the elections held under Chávez were clean, but that under his leadership democracy expanded to the point of turning the country’s barely 50% electoral participation rates to over 80%. I know he was the target of malicious claims that initially disputed the validity of his elections and legitimacy of his victories. But if there is one thing Chávez could be proud of, it is that he never cheated.

Oil and poverty

But things changed when he died (in 2013). One of the country’s foreign ministers, Uslar Pietri, had already warned that a sharp drop in crude prices was enough to push Venezuela into abject poverty — in spite of the immensity of its wealth, in principle. And there was a contrast between Chávez’s resourceful and charismatic leadership, which won the hearts of millions of Venezuelans and the army’s firm loyalty, and the present government of Nicolás Maduro, so cynical and vainglorious — forced now to dig into a threadbare public purse to buy that loyalty.

At one point we realized: the Bolivarian project had much more to do with Chávez’s inspiring passion than the people’s own, creative impetus. So naturally, the revolution petered out as crises and frustration mounted, and people began leaving the country in droves.

The revolutionary process clearly needed a revamp in recent years, sourced in public will, respect for opponents, freedom and creativity. Instead it became staid as it began defending privileges, sowing discord and sinking into bureaucratic malaise and corruption.

I have always been a frank critic of electoral corruption in our country — where votes are brazenly traded — and naturally cannot approve of the Bolivarian project ditching its electoral legitimacy for an arbitrary power grab. When people come to think it’s all right to cheat because they’re cheating in other countries, then we must simply abandon our hopes for any real change.

There may be good intentions behind that first step to bend or flout the rules, but that is but a prelude to hounding opponents before ruling through jails and repression, by hook or by crook.. And as the adage goes, absolute power and corruption go hand-in-hand.

Usurped power

Today, nobody could believe that Maduro won the elections held on July 28. His regime had already lost its legitimacy when it began disqualifying opposition candidates and especially its leading opponent, María Corina Machado. It was obvious she was going to win. Its duty in this and every other election was to face the voters’ verdict and cede power as any civilian government must. Having already decided to turn their back on the democracy that had given them power, the presidential gang did not even confess it but mounted a farce of a vote they then claimed to have won.

Latin America is in dire need of democracy

But can usurped power help their cause? Latin America is in dire need of democracy, and that means, before anything else, respecting the rules. The only things that can assure a basic level of true freedom here are a willingness to incline before democracy, working to make it better and wider, and unflinching respect for the voter. Chavismo used to be a party under its founder, yet you only need witness his successors’ harsh, somber speeches to know this regime has no future.

And its lesson for all: nobody has the right to betray the electorate. If the continent is to prosper and thrive, then we need proud, confident citizen bodies with no need for a savior, especially if salvation is thrust upon them. Maduro can shout as much as he likes today, but if Chávez were here, he’d be the first to tell him, he’s no president, he’s a fraud.