The President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, this Tuesday upon his arrival in Barbados.Prensa AN (EFE/Prensa AN)
The Chavismo and the opposition signed this Tuesday in Barbados partial agreements to pave the way for the presidential elections in Venezuela, almost a year after the signing of the last commitments that were never fulfilled. The delegations of the government of Nicolás Maduro and the Unity Platform signed a five-page document in which one of the clearest commitments was to propose presidential elections for the second half of 2024, taking into account the constitutional schedule according to which they would take place in December. This point distances the intentions of some parts of Chavismo from advancing them. Rather, the document is a general terms of reference, largely linked to the National Electoral Council’s commitments, and it will be necessary to consider whether these are maintained along the way.
On national television, Venezuelan television broadcast images of the delegations signing this new agreement, just before the Vinotinto team’s expected match against Chile. Moderators described the progress as significant, but crucial aspects remain up in the air regarding the disqualification of opposition candidates, which the Maduro government has used to block political dissent in the country and which has become the most contentious aspect of this new cycle Negotiations.
The penultimate point of the agreement states that it promotes “the authorization of all presidential candidates and political parties” to participate in the presidential election, but warns that this “as long as they meet the requirements established by law,” a slogan that the maintains the possibility that these judicial vetoes will be used to prevent the registration of candidates like María Corina Machado, who received such a sanction a few months ago when she was running in the primaries. In statements to the official media that traveled to Barbados, the head of the Chavista delegation, Jorge Rodríguez, cleared all doubts: “If you receive an administrative disqualification, you cannot run.” Machado is practically the winner of the primaries that will take place this Sunday, so this remains a key issue that needs to be resolved.
The opposition delegation described the successes as another step on the way. “This delegation has taken the first step towards developing an electoral process with concrete guarantees to bring about political change,” said leader Gerardo Blyde. “Guarantees will be put in place to ensure compliance with the candidate selection processes; that is, the area codes. There is a path for the disqualified and the parties to quickly regain their rights, election observation has been announced, an electoral plan to be carried out in the second semester has been established, the updating and cleaning of the electoral register, including those of Venezuelans abroad, as well as the Granting access to all media to all candidates.” Another commitment from the parties is to call on the authorities “to take measures to ensure security, freedom of movement and assembly for all candidates throughout the national territory.”
Also left on the paper was “the request for invitation” to technical election observation missions such as those of the European Union, the UN Panel of Election Experts, the African Union, the Inter-American Union of Electoral Organizations and the Carter Center, according to the update of permanent voter registration and the opening of the Voter registration abroad, a key demand of the opposition sectors.
In Venezuela there are more than three million people of voting age who have not registered, and the only way to do so is through the CNE’s regional offices, located in the capitals of each state and, in some cases, several hours away from many residents centers are distant. The last agreed point regarding rights and political guarantees was to respect the results of next year’s presidential elections.
The lifting of sanctions, a temporary means of pressure for the opposition, was referred to in the final paragraph of the agreement. “The parties will continue the dialogue and negotiation process on other measures to strengthen inclusive democracy and a culture of tolerance and political coexistence and respect for human rights; “We understand the need to lift sanctions against the Venezuelan state and demand independence, freedom, sovereignty, immunity, territorial integrity and national self-determination as inalienable rights of the nation,” the document says.
Now that Maduro has resumed dialogue with the United States, separate negotiations are taking place that have finally brought the parties back to the table with a promise to ease restrictions on transactions involving Venezuelan oil, in a context in which the energy market has been held in check since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine and is becoming complicated again with the resurgence of the armed conflict in the Gaza Strip.
In addition, on October 17, an agreement was signed on “the defense of the vital interests of the nation”, which summarizes the agenda of Chavismo: the defense of Essequibo in the territorial dispute that Venezuela has with Guyana, the rejection of the granting of concessions to oil companies in this area, the defense of Citgo and assets abroad. The details were revealed by Rodríguez, who suspiciously pointed out that the moderators had omitted the reading.
After two years of negotiations with support from Norway, the Netherlands and Russia, there have been few concrete measures. The release of the more than 200 political prisoners, the reforms of the justice system to ensure reparations for the victims and the protection measures for Venezuelans still in a serious humanitarian crisis are topics that came to the table on August 17, 2021 met for the first time in Mexico City, but did not intervene in the discussion again.
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