Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro submits electoral result review petition before the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice. Photo: Presidential Press.
By Misión Verdad – Aug 1, 2024
The recent statements of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his filing of an electoral review appeal before the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) draw a roadmap for the resolution of the conflict induced by the far-right opposition not recognizing the results of the July 28 presidential elections.
The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will now be the protagonist in mediation, institutional channeling and resolution of the confrontation scenario created by Edmundo González and María Corina Machado.
“It is fundamental for the Electoral Chamber to establish with absolute clarity and legality the definitive results of the July 28 election, including all the steps and audits carried out,” said President Maduro after filing the appeal.
The Venezuelan head of state reiterated, in his statement before the TSJ and in the international press conference that followed, his confidence in Venezuelan legal system and the highest court of the country. He explained in detail the protocols and procedures established to settle all issues related to the July 28 election.
The introduction of this appeal implies the execution of a high-level legal, technical and institutional expertise regarding the election, which has been marked by an attack on the transmission and counting infrastructure of the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the illegal publication of “results” by Edmundo González and María Corina Machado in open violation of the electoral legislation of Venezuela.
One of the main elements of this appeal is the summoning of candidates and party leaders before the Supreme Court, where each party will submit the electoral minutes in its possession, which will facilitate in clarifying the situation.
In Venezuela’s recent history, the Constitution has been the protagonist in moments of high political tension and has shown its capacity to deactivate regime change operations through institutional channels.
“On a day like today, July 31, 2017, exactly seven years ago, peace returned to Venezuela after 120 days of insurrectional violence and calls to assassinate me, when they burned and killed in what was known as the guarimba,” President Maduro commented, referring to the National Constituent Assembly that deactivated the 2017 coup attempt.
#EnVivo || Presidente @NicolasMaduro: El Sebin los capturó en tiempo récord, tenemos las confesiones de estos delincuentes uno llamado “El Mechas”, confiesan que recibieron de Vente Venezuela las órdenes de atacar diversos objetivos. Creen que pueden atemorizar al pueblo para que… pic.twitter.com/JkDNh0vZmJ
— Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (@avnve) July 30, 2024
The appeal filed by President Maduro, in short, activates a framework to constitutionally dissipate the post-electoral conflict. It emphasizes transparency among all political sectors and configures an institutional way to resolve the tension, which is thus in contradiction with the intention of escalating the conflict and imposing a narrative to take the scenario of violence and chaos to extreme limits.
In turn, this legal step has a premise of consensus building, and connecting it with positions of geopolitical influence in the region. The government of Lula da Silva of Brazil has shown itself in favor of resolving the dispute through the institutional frameworks of Venezuela, in a statement aimed at containing the international pressure trying to delegitimize the Venezuelan State and promoting the coup agenda led by Machado.
This new scenario forces the far-right opposition to review its calculations and redefine its strategy. The Constitution’s entry into the scene increases the political costs of sustaining the narrative of the “triumph” of González if the opposition refuses to prove it before the TSJ. Thus, the far right would find itself at a crossroads: attending the TSJ would be a message of weakness to their followers who are already convinced of the “victory,” but not attending would create doubts both in Venezuela and internationally about the verisimilitude of the group’s records proving the “triumph.”
The Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has proven to have the capacity to resist and adapt to scenarios of conflict and institutional fracture. This capacity is once again being put to the test.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
Misión Verdad
Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
