Talk is cheap: Venezuelans want Maduro gone

It’s now been a month since Venezuela, my country, experienced what the pro-democracy opposition is defining a self-coup. The Supreme Court, controlled by the dictatorial President Nicolas Maduro, stripped all remaining power away from the opposition-controlled National Assembly and eliminated parliamentary immunity. Now, Maduro talks of further dangerous constitutional change.

Following worldwide criticism and condemnation by foreign governments and international bodies, Maduro had “asked” the High Court to reverse its decision. However ridiculous the decision was, it was a blatant violation of the separation of powers. The damage was done. The government had made yet another step in seizing the last standing independent power. These moves have caused chaos.

{mosads}Venezuelan legislators called for a series of peaceful demonstrations, which have grown in numbers. Millions of people have been taking to the streets of Caracas and other cities across the country, calling for freedom and demanding democracy. 

The people have simple demands: elections, an end to corruption; the release of all political prisoners; the opening of a humanitarian aid channel to solve the government-led crisis and the full restoration of the legislative powers of the National Assembly.

The unsurprising response from Maduro and his cronies — in typical Chavista fashion — has been to unleash violence and repression. Maduro has deployed all of his security forces, while arming citizen militias (colectivos) to block, repress, beat-up and dispel protests by using tear gas, rubber bullets and trucks mounted with high-pressure water cannons. Video footage shows how these colectivos have shot dead protesters,with full impunity.   

The death toll has surpassed 30, with most of the victims being students. Nearly 1,500 have been arrested and over 800 of them are still detained. International condemnations are all around us, and a region, wary of the negative ramifications of a failed state in Venezuela, is starting to take note. Panicking, Nicolas Maduro is once again waving the flag of dialogue. However, as expected from the Socialist regime, this flag is a red one — and we should be warned.

Let’s remember, this is not the first time he’s called for dialogue when he felt cornered. Last year, after the Venezuelan opposition organized its supporters to collect signatures in order to activate a recall referendum, a constitutional mechanism to oust the president, Maduro smelled trouble.

He quickly used the electoral body under the control of his henchmen to announce that the referendum process was suspended due to “fraud” in the collection of signatures in several states. Discontent and rage spread like wildfire, and at least a million people flooded the streets. Momentum was building up, and international condemnations were all around us. Sound familiar? 

Dialogue “froze” the people and killed momentum. Maduro took advantage of international goodwill and naivete on behalf of the opposition to engage in “talks”, under the mediation of three former heads of state and with the sponsorship of the Vatican. The leaders of the opposition asked its followers to refrain from further escalating protests; the dialogue failed, and Maduro won.

This time around, we cannot be fooled again.

Maduro made a number of promises as a result of the dialogue process, including the release of political prisoners and the restoration of the National Assembly’s powers. Five months later, what have we gained? Nothing. 

This time must be different. Maduro does not deserve any more chances for dialogue. He has done a terrible job as a president, pillaging what is left of Venezuela’s political system, health facilities and economy.  

The Venezuelan people are showing the world that bullets and tear gas will not stop them. They know what is at stake and are fearlessly standing up for their rights. Neither the common citizen, nor the opposition leadership will give up this time.

The international community must now stand with the Venezuelan people to increase pressure on what is left of this decaying and weakened dictatorship, which must know that the end is near. New, tough U.S.-led sanctions must be on the table.

The only dialogue with the Venezuelan government should be to find out where they’ve stashed the billions of dollars that have been stolen from the nation and which international court should be judging them for their despicable record of crimes — from human rights violations to drug trafficking activities.

Martin Rodil is the president of the Venezuelan American Leadership Council, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group for freedom and democracy in Venezuela.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the views of The Hill.