Beware of attempts to discredit Venezuela’s elections

The following letter was signed by more than 30 organizations, including Workers World Party, International Action Center, SanctionsKill and Bronx Anti-War Coalition. Read the letter at peoplesforum.org/venezuela-election. On July 29, it was announced that Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner with 51% of the vote.

On July 28, millions of Venezuelans will go to the polls to choose between 10 presidential candidates, including incumbent Nicolás Maduro and main opposition challenger Edmundo González. The campaign has seen energetic participation all across the country and vigorous, democratic debate over the future direction of the country. However, a Western media narrative is already being spun to present the election as inevitably fraudulent — and pave the way for a new regime change operation if the right-wing opposition does not prevail at the ballot box.

According to this narrative, support for the opposition is overwhelming, and the only possible way supporters of the government could win is through fraud. That way, if the vote does not go according to Washington’s wishes, yet another effort to remove Maduro from power by force can be initiated on the basis of the supposed illegitimacy of the results.

We reject this cynical, self-serving logic. Since the process of change called the Bolivarian Revolution began under President Hugo Chávez, Venezuela has held over 30 elections that have been conducted professionally and impartially. The electoral system includes multiple layers of fraud protection, including an extensive auditing process where representatives of all candidates are involved. 

For years, this system was recognized as fair and democratic by all outside institutions. What changed was that after the 2018 election of Maduro, the Trump administration made a clear decision to discredit the elections and withdraw recognition of Venezuela’s legitimate government so as to overthrow it.

The Venezuelan people have suffered greatly from all this. The crushing weight of U.S.-imposed sanctions caused misery across the entire population and was designed to create an explosive situation that would result in the unconstitutional removal of the government. A study by the Center for Economic Policy and Research found that these cruel sanctions have cost the lives of over 40,000 Venezuelans.

Washington failed in their political aim of instigating regime change. The economy is now in a period of recovery. Instead of turning a new page, the U.S. government has returned to using false election fraud narratives to create their desired crisis. We demand respect for Venezuela’s independence and the sovereign right of the Venezuelan people to elect their own leaders without outside interference.