A violent opposition march in Venezuela, 2017. File photo.
The Venezuelan opposition is known for generating violence whenever an electoral event approaches. As the 2024 presidential elections are coming up, the opposition sector has already started a new campaign of hatred against the government and Chavismo sympathizers.
Recently, leaders and promoters of different opposition political parties have started a social media campaign claiming that Chavismo is violent. Delsa Solórzano, an opposition primary candidate, complained about receiving a death threat from a Facebook user.
La violencia es la lengua madre del chavismo. Lo que varía son los decibeles de acuerdo al momento político. Apenas nos acercamos a un horizonte electoral, asoma sus colmillos más oscuros. El chavismo -conceptualmente- es la antítesis de la democracia.
— Leonardo Padrón (@Leonardo_Padron) August 16, 2023
However, this campaign seems to be a sign of amnesia of the opposition’s own violence, such as the guarimbas of 2014 and 2017, when opposition leaders made multiple calls to their supporters for violence, and violent gangs decapitated and burned people alive who were Chavistas or suspected of holding sympathies for Chavismo.
The same opposition is now trying to create a narrative and use hatred against Chavismo as a political strategy for the upcoming elections. Given the public apathy for the opposition’s internal primaries, the opposition considers it more feasible to point the finger at Chavistas and brand them as violent.
Former Mayor of Caracas Antonio Ledezma, now a fugitive from the Venezuelan justice system and staunch opponent of President Maduro, joined the opposition’s collective amnesia with a social media post. “Violence only begets more violence in a country beset by so much arbitrariness and human rights violations. Our solidarity with Justice First activists and their leader Henrique Capriles,” he wrote.
Amid the opposition’s accusations, President Nicolás Maduro warned about a campaign to sow fascism in the country through lies, hatred, and violence.
President Maduro added that despite the “perverse and Machiavellian cocktail” the opposition wants to implant in the country, his government will not allow it.
¡Alerta! Quieren sembrar el fascismo en nuestro país a través de la mentira, del odio y la violencia, un coctel perverso y maquiavélico, pero nosotros no lo permitiremos. Seguiremos nuestro camino de Paz, solidaridad, amor, estabilidad, armonía, recuperación y crecimiento. ¡El…
— Nicolás Maduro (@NicolasMaduro) August 15, 2023
“We will continue on our path of peace, solidarity, love, stability, harmony, recovery, and growth. Venezuela’s destiny is greatness!” Maduro said.
Last Monday, during the broadcast of his program Con Maduro +, the president also made a statement on the death threat received by Delsa Solórzano. He offered her police security. However, Solórzano, head of the Encuentro Ciudadano party, has not yet accepted the president’s offer.
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President Maduro condemned all forms of violence and stated that all these actions are set up “by perverse sectors that want to disturb the peace and security of Venezuela.”
“For me, it is simply a set-up by ill-intentioned people, because the threat is made in the name of Maduro, Diosdado [Cabello], and the Bolivarian Revolution. We have never ever used terrorism, attacks, or violence to settle our political differences,” he stated.
¿En serio?
No recuerdo que usted hiciera lo mismo cuando invitaron a lanzar materos desde balcones y así falleció una madre,tampoco cuando aquel general retirado invitó a colocar guayas para decapitar a los contrarios menos aún ante la quema de gente viva.¡Inmorales! https://t.co/7dB5Irs39v
— Carolys H. Pérez G. (@carolyshelena) August 17, 2023
The opposition’s primary elections are only two months away. It remains to be seen how these elections will take place and what the opposition will do during the run-up to the 2024 presidential elections if their plans do not go as they wish.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/SF/BLA
