Venezuela’s opposition candidate flees to Spain …
… and has been granted asylum there:
Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez arrived in Spain on Sunday after fleeing into exile in as part of a negotiated deal with Nicolas Maduro’s government that dealt a major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his opposition campaign.
The surprise departure of the man considered by Venezuela’s opposition and several foreign governments to be the legitimate winner of July’s presidential race was announced late Saturday by Venezuelan officials who just a few days ago ordered his arrest. …
“His life was in danger, and the increasing threats, summons, arrest warrants and even attempts at blackmail and coercion to which he has been subjected, demonstrate that the regime has no scruples,” [opposition politician] Machado said on X.
“Let this be very clear to everyone: Edmundo will fight from outside alongside our diaspora.” …
But on the streets of Caracas on Sunday the mood was one of despair ….
Well they might despair. Venezuela, once a fairly prosperous country, voted itself into permanent leftist control decades ago and now those in charge will not relinquish their tight grip on the country even if the suffering citizens reject them. “Our democracy” isn’t democratic unless it serves the left’s cause. And since Gonzalez remained a threat as long as he was in Venezuela, he had to be threatened till he left the country.
The Venezuelan people have seen this play before:
Gonzalez joins the swelling ranks of opposition stalwarts who once fought Maduro only to throw in the towel and seek asylum abroad in the face of a brutal crackdown. In Spain, he joins at least four former presidential hopefuls who were imprisoned or faced arrest for defying Maduro’s rule.
Spain has been a major point of exodus for Venezuelans, particularly of those leading opposition to Maduro’s regime. They include Leopoldo Lopez, who fled to Spain to reunite with his family in 2020, and Antonio Ledezma, who left in 2017.
In addition:
Ever since the vote, he and Machado have been in hiding as security forces rounded up more than 2,000 people, many of them young Venezuelans who spontaneously took to the streets to protest Maduro’s alleged theft of the election.
Will they be treated better or worse than the J6-ers?
The entire article is worth reading. Here’s another especially interesting part:
Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a staunch Maduro ally, sought González’s arrest after he failed to appear three times in connection with a criminal investigation into what it considers an act of electoral sabotage.
Saab told reporters the voting records the opposition shared online were forged and an attempt to undermine the National Electoral Council.
I think the possible relevance to our own situation is obvious. The supposed crimes for which Gonzalez was being investigated include “conspiracy, falsifying documents, and usurpation of powers.” And then we have this:
Maduro asked the country’s high court to audit the electoral process. The Supreme Tribunal of Justice, stacked with Maduro loyalists, concluded on Aug. 22 that the vote counts published by the opposition were false and certified Maduro’s victory.
It has a certain familiar ring – or perhaps it’s a portent of things to come for the US. I sincerely hope not, but that’s my fear.
[NOTE: This article was written prior to the election, and it touts how secure the Venezuelan elections are. And if you read it you can see that the process of voting and checking IDs in Venezuela is a gazillion times better than ours. There are other vulnerabilities, however, which the government almost certainly exploited, having to do with authenticating the vote counts. Where there’s a will there’s a way.
perhaps it’s a portent of things to come for the US.
I don’t think there’s a Western nation that would grant Trump asylum, and I don’t think our government would negotiate one in any event… he threatens our and their elites, and people like Gonzalez don’t.
Niketas:
Perhaps Hungary or Italy. There’s also always the Czech Republic, and I’m assuming Melania may have dual citizenship there and in the US.
If Trump is unsuccessful in regaining the White House, and thinks he can go back to private life and just make money I think he is seriously mistaken. If anything, the attacks on him will intensify. He and his family will be harassed, the Justice Department and the NYSAG will pursue him endlessly with lawfare, more E. Jean Carroll and Stormy Daniels types will come crawling out of the woodwork, you name it. Congress might even pass a special law to strip him of his SS detail, just because he’s Donald Trump.
Melania Trump is from Slovenia and has dual Slovenian and U.S. citizenship (so does Barron Trump). I suspect her native country would give her and her husband asylum. So, I think, would the Czech Republic, Poland, and perhaps a couple of other countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans (Slovakia? Romania? Bulgaria?). In the Baltics, Lithuania and Latvia might; Estonia almost certainly would not.
Perhaps Hungary or Italy. There’s also always the Czech Republic
Slovenia…, Poland, and perhaps a couple of other countries in Eastern Europe and the Balkans
I’m not sure those countries would or could resist much arm-twisting from the US. If Trump did that, it would be because the US government let him do it, and I don’t think they will. To begin with they wouldn’t acknowledge that he’s being politically persecuted, they’d say it’s purely a criminal matter.
I’m starting to wonder what kind of shenanigans I could get into that would get me exiled to Italy for life. Don’t throw me in that briar patch, Br’er Fox.
As the saying goes: “Socialism — Vote your way in, shoot your way out.”
If you talked to Maduro (or, before him, Chavez) or one of his trusted lieutenants and you got them to be honest, what would they say they’re trying to accomplish? Is it simply power and boodle for them, or is there some perverted idealism behind it all?
As we come to a pass like this, there’s not much left of the old girl, is there?
Paul Nachman:
Interesting and yet unanswerable question.
Paul Nachman
There was some perverted idealism behind it. At one time Chavez was quoted as saying that if Fidel were made President of the World, he would solve things within five years. Granted, that is nonsense (in 6 decades, milk production has more than quadrupled in Latin America, but has increased only 10-20% in Cuba.), but Chavez believed it.
Chavez had innumerable public appearances, where some humble person after humble person would ask Chavez to solve a problem. Chavez wouldn’t have done this if he didn’t believe he was actually helping people.
I suspect that Maduro is more realistic about it than Chavez was. He got training in Cuba before Chavez took power, which leads me to believe Maduro has adopted the Cuban POV- keep in power no matter what.(At the same time, I have difficulty believing that Chavez would have released the 2024 election results.)
Chavismo views itself as a revolutionary movement. As such, stepping down because of an election loss is not ever considered.
Spain gets the cream of Venezuelan society, we get its garbage.
Regarding the TSJ’s (Venezuelan Supreme Court) objectivity, consider the following. TSJ judges chanting pro Chavez slogan
Caracas Chronicles 2015: What’s the 45,475th stripe to a tiger?
This is Kabuki Theatre. He was allowed to “flee”.
Keep in mind the governing party in soain is in coalition with the communist sumar party (out of the frying pan)
JackWayne:
“Theater” implies some sort of ruse or deception or pretense. There is no pretense here that he wasn’t allowed to flee. It says right in the article I linked that he was allowed to flee. This is the very beginning of the article I linked in my post:
A negotiated deal. The agreement was basically this: go away, or you’ll end up in prison. Gonzalez said okay, I’ll go.
Go away or end of Dead. Some choice.
“perhaps it’s a portent of things to come for the US.”
If Trump ‘loses’ again and Harris’ leftist masters try to pull off in America what Maduro has done in Venezuela, it will end very badly indeed for them.
Americans have the means to shoot our way out of a ‘woke’ dictatorship. The rank and file in the US military is not nearly as woke as the left hopes. The left is concentrated in urban and suburban areas and other than air, every necessity to sustain life has to be imported. Those areas’ logistical supply lines can be easily disrupted. The American military has trained several generations of military veterans in countering guerrilla warfare and to combat it, troops must have a deep familiarity with its tactics.
When the say “Our democracy” the emphasis is on “OUR.”
They truly believe they rightfully own it.
The Telegram CEO was imprisoned in France. The Rumble CEO left Europe in a hurry lest he follow. I imagine Elon Musk will stay out of Europe and Brazil.
I’m not happy about the prospect of armed conflict here, but if the Dems take control of the presidency and the Congress, they could make things even uglier. There are increasingly fewer safe harbors in the world for those with the means to flee.