What They’re Not Saying About Venezuela’s Elections
Much is being said about Venezuela’s elections and nearly all of it lacks a ton of context
Note: It is not the intent of this article to show support for any political leader or government. People decide their futures and if they elect someone, we need to accept it and deal with it diplomatically instead of using the undermining of governments, economic sanctions, starvation, and warfare to remove them from power. Now, with that out of the way, let’s get into it.
The fervor on social media about Venezuela’s election is wild. From the same old bogus reports of Chavistas (Nicolás Maduro supporters) riding around with guns on motorcycles to statements issued by the U.S. government minutes after Maduro was announced the winner claiming – without evidence – that “the result does not reflect the will of the people” reeks of the same propaganda that’s been in play for over 100 years.
The kind used to manufacture consent for a good ol’ U.S. intervention.
Background
It’s worth noting that after Maduro “won” reelection in 2018, Western powers led by the United States refused to acknowledge what it considered a sham election. Within months, six people would be arrested for a failed drone attack meant to assassinate Maduro. The attack wounded seven soldiers during an event celebrating the Venezuela National Guard’s 81st anniversary.
Months later the U.S. and opposition leaders in Venezuela failed in an attempt to install Juan Guaido as president. Guaido would later try to spark a military uprising dubbed “Operation Freedom” to remove Maduro from power and seize control of the country. While Guaido’s attempt failed, Western powers were successful in seizing $2 billion in Venezuelan gold and turning control of it over to Guaido and later, current opposition leaders.
About a year later, Venezuelan security forces prevented a violent coup attempt organized by Silvercorp USA, a private security contractor. Canadian-American and former U.S. Special Forces medic Jordan Goudreau publicly stated that he and two former members of U.S. special forces trained 60 troops in Colombia to overthrow the Venezuelan government. One ringleader was later jailed in the U.S. on international drug trafficking charges.
We also can not ignore that Venezuela has the world’s largest crude oil reserve and that U.S. corporations would love nothing more than to get their hands on it. Former president Donald Trump and his National Security Advisor John Bolton have publicly stated that the U.S. has attempted multiple coups to take over Venezuela and seize its oil. Even Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) and others called on Trump to send U.S. troops to Venezuela to assist in a coup in 2019.
Bolton laughs about coups initiated by the U.S.
Key Post-Election Talking Points
Let’s start with evidence of a stolen election. As of this writing, there isn’t any. Despite Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying he had “concerns” minutes after the results were announced, a recent briefing by senior administration officials shows they don’t have any evidence to suggest fraud. Using phrasing like, “if it is proven that they committed fraud” and “ensuring that there is sufficient evidence that this was a credible election” suggests they’re speculating about fraud.
On Tuesday, the White House also confirmed that it has seen no evidence of fraud.
“We continue to call for Venezuela’s electoral authorities to release full, transparent, and detailed voting results, including by polling station. …. We are also reviewing other electoral data shared by civil society organizations and the reports of international election monitors,” said NSC Spokesperson Adrienne Watson from the White House via a statement
However, it does highlight why some think the election was stolen. Aside from the scant reporting surrounding the lack of proof, opinions by high-ranking officials are based on a discrepancy between a flawed exit poll and the actual numbers. That polling, conducted by a U.S. firm, surveyed only 6,846 voters out of millions at just 100 polling stations out of more than 20,000 nationally. Adding this context alone begins to give a different perspective.
Independent Verification
Because of doubts from administration officials and U.S. corporate-friendly countries lining up behind the U.S. and its dubious claims, many have been seeking independent verification of Venezuela’s election results. What they don’t say is what they consider “independent”. Outside verification is ideal but there must be guardrails against nations (like the United States) with ulterior motives manipulating their findings.
We should also be willing to pay attention to the hundreds of outside observers in Venezuela who are monitoring the election. Many of them are from the U.S. and so far, they have yet to report any irregularities. Most are waiting for confirmation once the results at the polling station level are compared to Venezuela’s National Election Commission’s (CNE) results.
The National Lawyers Guild International Committee participated in monitoring the election.
“The Venezuelan elections today were not only fair and transparent but also represented an example of popular civic participation. Their successful outcome is a triumph for the Venezuelan people, especially considering the level of US interference and attempted sabotage of the democratic process, particularly through sanctions and coercive economic measures aimed at producing ‘regime change’ in Venezuela,” said Suzanne Adely, President of the NLG and a member of the delegation of election observers
While the opposition claims it has proof of fraud, we must withhold judgment until it is made public. Otherwise, we’re only participating in the manufacturing of consent to intervene in Venezuela with possible military action – something opposition leader María Corina Machado has called for many times in the past. She was jailed and barred from running for president after attempting coups with U.S. help and seeking an invasion of the country by the Israeli military.
Venezuela’s secure elections are but one part no one is talking about that again, changes the narrative.
How Voting Works
Elections in Venezuela are managed by poll workers who are drafted through a lottery of registered voters. Voting machines are digital stand-alone devices that remain disconnected from any network until the polls close. After a vote is cast the machine records the vote and prints out a paper ballot that the voter then inspects and deposits into a ballot box.
The official tally announcing Maduro’s victory has yet to be verified by comparing it to the paper ballots. Before the election, the CNE committed to audit 54% of polling places to compare electronic results with paper ballots and verify final counts. Based on what we’ve seen so far, it should come as no surprise to hear the opposition or its U.S. backers call for a full audit.
Meanwhile, the opposition has opted to create its own vote-counting system using data that has not been verified.
Support for Maduro
The U.S., Maduro’s opposition, and the current government of Venezuela negotiated the terms of the election in Barbados last year in what was dubbed the “Barbados Accords”. A month later, U.S. intelligence agencies predicted a Maduro victory partly because the alternative is similar to far-right Christian nationalists in the U.S. Support for the current government is a major issue not being discussed anywhere and it’s a huge disservice to the public.
Unfortunately for some and despite low approval ratings, support for Maduro over far-right politicos and Western influence is much broader than they’ll readily admit. Doing so undermines visions of widespread “third-world-country” imagery and removes the sense of urgency behind interventionist logic. It makes calling for foreign invasions to topple governments much less favorable and less likely to occur.
Diminishing Maduro would have taken a much bigger effort by the opposition.
Lack of Influence
Instead of targeting Maduro with new policy ideas, the opposition solely focused on Maduro echoing Western propaganda. Despite María Corina Machado not being allowed to run, the opposition fielded 74-year-old Edmundo González. However, Machado did most of the minimal campaigning as González tried to stay out of the limelight as much as possible. He fielded no policy proposals or agenda and made minimal appearances.
González adopted Machado’s economic policies to end social programs, grant U.S. corporations access to Venezuela’s oil, and privatize state-run entities like education and healthcare. In her own words, she wants to “privatize everything” as a supporter of “popular capitalism,” as she calls it. These are all policies that have been proven to hurt poor, nonwhite groups, and Indigenous people the most.
Support for such policies is slimmer than her supporters suggest.
The opposition’s policy agenda mimics that of Javier Milei in Argentina who immediately privatized everything causing the country to experience an explosion in inflation. The poor became poorer as the middle class started suffering under the strain of such policies. Milei made drastic cuts to social programs, pensions, and public services.
Trying to sell misery with little campaigning is a recipe for failure. There is little doubt that the opposition’s effort was lackluster given what was at stake. For all the excitement about the opposition portrayed in Western media, under 60% of voters showed up at the polls. Meanwhile, Maduro was campaigning like crazy and no one bothered to report it.
Conclusion
It’s important to be patient and await the results of the impending audit instead of making assumptions. The opposition party admits they don’t have a complete dataset (they claim to have 70% of voter data) so we must treat their results with suspicion. Given the history of U.S. interventions in Latin America (rarely justified) and its insistence on installing far-right dictators, it behooves us to challenge conventional and covert methods employed by the U.S.
Despite what you may think, the United States never stopped meddling in Latin American countries' affairs. If a leader denies the West access to resources or puts their people first, the U.S. government makes their lives a living hell while starving the people who put them in office. This has not changed. Only the faces who make the decisions have.
We must always be mindful of imperialist and colonialist motivations as it continues today. We don't have to look far in the U.S. to see it and you only have to look at how leaders like Milei, Israel, and the opposition in Venezuela target and treat Indigenous people. The only way to stop it is to challenge it. That’s what this is about.
La lucha sigue (the fight continues).
I’m a freelance writer and journalist for The Antagonist Magazine and Unicorn Riot. Find me on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work become a paid subscriber or donate on Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp
Thanks much needed details including the US prediction of a Maduro victory after Barbados!!! because Trump's mini mes were in the $2B stolen funded opposition.