By Alex Rosaria
A tall and slender lady clothed in all white captivated the attention of many as she elegantly entered the voting center in Curaçao to cast her vote in the Venezuelan opposition’s presidential primary elections to choose a unity candidate for the presidential elections next year. As she dropped the ballot in the assigned box, she conspicuously made the sign of the cross, looked up as if waiting for a celestial sign, and walked away, visibly absorbed in thought.
In stark contrast, many who had already voted but decided to hang around outside the voting center were merrily sharing the early results available on social media, due to time difference, in Australia, Spain and France where hordes of voters turned up to vote for Mrs. María Corina Machado, one of the more than 10 opposition candidates.
Others were slamming President Maduro who they said shamefully boycotted the primaries in Venezuela by arbitrarily shutting down voting centers based on technicalities, cutting off electricity and prohibiting public transportation to and from certain voting areas. “This is how you kill democracies,” an older man opined.
At the end of the day Mrs. Machado tallied, according to results that are not yet official, 96 percent of all the votes in Curaçao.
Mrs. Machado is a politician from the most radical wing of the right and one of the most critical voices against Chavismo and the Miraflores Palace. Despite the fact that she received a commanding 90+ percent share of the vote according to the Associated Press, and seems to have united the opposition, it’s not certain that Mrs. Machado will be able to challenge Mr. Maduro, the incumbent, who is widely believed to seek another term at elections expected to be held in the second half of 2024. After all, on June 30 2023, Venezuela’s comptroller general announced Mrs. Machado would be banned from seeking public office due to her support of international sanction against Mr. Maduro’s government.
It is unclear what will happen if Mrs. Machado is barred from running in 2024. Will the U.S. and allies jump into action even though the Biden Administration has so far been wavering at best when dealing with Latin America and the Caribbean?
Will the opposition, including Mrs. Machado, be willing to rally behind an alternate candidate should one be chosen? Will the opposition continue to challenge Mr. Maduro with elections, or will it again turn to protests and violence even though these have shown not to have had an effect in the past?
Will the people be going back to the street and embolden the opposition? Or, will this cause fresh fissures among the many political actors and set this rare opposition unity adrift, which would play nicely into the hand of Mr. Maduro?
Even if Mrs. Machado is able to run, and win the presidential elections, the question remains if Venezuela is better off having an authoritarian at the helm with views defended by the unrestrained expressions of the national right, the so-called “MAGAzuelans”. Many consider her to be the only salvation for their country, but will she be able to fulfill her promises of change whilst Venezuelan institutions are indoctrinated by Chavismo and stuffed with Chavistas?
Let’s not forget how Nicaraguan Mrs. Violeta de Barrios Chamorro was unable to do much during her presidency (1990-1997) because the most important institutions (Police, Army, Justice, and Courts, among others) were still in the hands of the defeated Sandinismo of Mr. Daniel Ortega Saavedra. The Venezuelan opposition is advised to curb its enthusiasm and realize that durable change is possible, but takes time and should be an inclusive process.
Who knows, maybe these questions were also playing in the head of the slim lady in white who left the voting center consumed with doubts. Justifiably so, I would say.
~ Alex Rosaria served as accredited observer to the primary elections in Willemstad, Curaçao, on October, 22, 2023. ~
