Versión Español
Spanish.— Popular sovereignty, which—according to Article 5 of the Venezuelan Constitution—resides “non-transferably in the people,” who exercise it “through suffrage,” is a “mistake” for Colombian President Gustavo Petro. This is how he characterized the presidential elections held on July 28 in Venezuela. With this, the leader of the neighboring country not only tramples on Venezuelan democracy and justifies violations of the Constitution but also raises alarms in Colombia, where presidential elections are due in 2026. His statements during an interview in Brazil, where he attended the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, may not ease the opposition’s concerns.
“I think the elections were a mistake,” Petro responded when asked how he should approach the issue of Venezuela moving forward. According to his grim statement, the problem was not the fraud committed by the Chavista regime, nor the unconstitutional disqualifications, nor the blocked candidacies. “There is no free vote if there is a blockade,” was his startling reply, hinting at his intention to move on and look the other way, as his government seemed to signal a few weeks ago when it hosted Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil with honors in Colombia for the COP16 summit in Cali. At the event, Gil brazenly denied the existence of political prisoners and attacked the opposition.
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Petro also lamented the fact that he was “in favor of holding” the elections in Venezuela, ignoring that, according to the Constitution, they are to be held every six years. Does the Colombian president then endorse the hijacking of popular sovereignty and the seizure of power by force? Would he dare to propose a similar absurdity in his own country? These remarks undoubtedly heighten concerns among the Colombian opposition, especially given Petro’s history as a former guerrilla of the M-19, which, in 1985, violently seized the Palace of Justice, leaving 101 dead, including 11 magistrates.
#AHORA 🇨🇴 | Insólito: el presidente de #Colombia, Gustavo Petro, calificó como un “error” las elecciones en #Venezuela porque –a su juicio– “no hay un voto libre si hay un bloqueo”. Además, lamentó el hecho de que él fue “partidario de que se hicieran”. Inmediatamente intentó… pic.twitter.com/LGsuKT2cm6
— PanAm Post Español (@PanAmPost_es) November 19, 2024
Maduro’s “Obscure” Behavior and the Oil Lobby
Attempting to temper his controversial statement, Gustavo Petro immediately added that “the behavior of the Venezuelan government was obscure” because “it did not provide clarity about their claim of winning the elections and left the matter murky by failing to show the records.” However, he argued that “demanding a radical change in the government is not realistic” and, disregarding the fact that Venezuelans had already expressed themselves at the polls, suggested that “the people must come to an agreement.” He also shifted responsibility for the fraud committed on July 28 to “harmful agents of global powers more interested in oil than anything else.”
In this last point, there is some truth, as U.S. foreign policy toward Venezuela has been, to some extent, held hostage by the oil lobby, which seeks to safeguard its economic interests. For example, Chevron, thanks to a license granted by Joe Biden’s administration at the end of 2022, projects a 35% increase in production by 2025 through three joint ventures with Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA. In the first eight months of 2024 alone, 53 million barrels of Venezuelan oil were shipped to the U.S., surpassing the total figure for 2023, which closed at 48.3 million. This is why the White House, despite imposing individual sanctions on members of the Chavista elite, refrains from jeopardizing oil interests.
Gustavo Petro’s unfortunate comment naturally sparked concern among the opposition and the press in his country. Luz María Sierra, director of the newspaper El Colombiano, urged Congress to avoid making mistakes when appointing justices to the Supreme Court, fearing Petro’s “concept of democracy” after he called Venezuela’s recent elections a “mistake.”
Que las elecciones de Venezuela fueron un error, dice Petro. Sugiere que no debieron haberse hecho (con una excusa x). Bueeenooo ahí nos queda su concepto de democracia. Ojalá el Congreso no se equivoque en la elección de los magistrados de la Corte. https://t.co/oWL4k6Aqg1
— Luz María Sierra (@LuzMaSierra) November 19, 2024
