Statements from Venezuelan left: End the detentions, forced disappearances and repression!
LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal is publishing various statements released by revolutionary left groups and human rights organisations denouncing the wave of police repression unleashed in the lead up to Nicolás Maduro’s inauguration.
Maduro plans to be inaugurated on January 10 for a third term, despite the country’s National Electoral Council having failed to publish the results of the disputed July 28 presidential elections, as it is required to do so by Venezuelan law.
The Frente Democrático Popular (Popular Democratic Front, FDP), which was set up by left opposition groups and moderate political parties in the wake of the elections, has been a key target of the government’s repression. The FDP has been campaigning for the results to be published in order to remove the grave doubts that hang over the election, and for an end to the repression against those protesting to defend their democratic rights.
Below are statements by FDP, Surgentes (human rights collective), the Plataforma Ciudadana en Defensa de la Constitución (Citizens' Platform in Defence of the Constitution, PCDC), Coordinadora Nacional Autónomo Independiente De Trabajadores (National Autonomous and Independent Coalition of Workers, CAIT) and the Partido Comunista de Venezuela (Communist Party of Venezuela). New statements will be added when they appear and are translated.
FDP demands the release of its members and an end to their harassment
Popular Democratic Front
At 12:30 a.m. on January 8, we were informed that yesterday, January 7, Enrique Márquez was arbitrarily detained and that Juan Barreto and María Alejandra Díaz had been harassed by security forces, with a police presence established outside their homes. All three are founding members of the Popular Democratic Front.
The Popular Democratic Front proposes political, peaceful and constitutional solutions to the legitimacy crisis generated by the lack of transparency and auditability of the electoral results announced by the CNE (National Electoral Council) and validated by the TSJ (Supreme Court of Justice). The government is only ratifying its authoritarian drift with these harassments and arbitrary detentions, which come on top of seven others that occurred that same day.
We demand the immediate release of Enrique Márquez and the other detainees and an end to the harassment of María Alejandra and Juan.
In response to the wave of arbitrary detentions, disappearances and police harassment
Surgentes
The human rights collective Surgentes states the following in view of the new wave of detentions, disappearances and harassment carried out by the Venezuelan state:
1. Yesterday, January 7, at least 10 people were arbitrarily detained by unidentified, hooded men (a common practice of the security forces): human rights activist Carlos Correa; former presidential candidate Enrique Márquez; the son-in-law of former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, Rafael Tudares; and seven members of opposition parties in the states of Trujillo, Falcon and Bolivar: Marianela Ojeda, Francisco Graterol, Alejandro Briceño, Darío Durán, Robert Rea, Francisco Cariello and Jeremy Santamaría. None of them have had contact with their families or lawyers. In none of these cases has the state acknowledged their detention. These are part of a pattern of forced disappearances.
2. Left activists María Alejandra Díaz and Juan Barreto were also harassed by security forces yesterday. Police went to the home of the former (neighbours prevented them from entering the building) while the latter had a police patrol stationed outside his home. María Alejandra Díaz and Juan Barreto, together with Enrique Márquez, are part of the Popular Democratic Front, a space which arose after the electoral fraud of July 28 in order to bring together social and political organisations to defend human rights, the constitution and popular sovereignty.
3. We are witnessing a new wave of repression, one that part of a consistent pattern when it comes to security forces (police and military): arbitrary detentions for political reasons, forced disappearances (generally for short durations), officials operating with their faces covered and without uniforms or marked vehicles, and the initial silence of authorities.
In light of the detentions/disappearances and harassment denounced here, we demand: a) immediate recognition by the state of the detention of these persons, that they be allowed to communicate with their relatives and lawyers, verification by the Public Ministry and the Ombudsman's Office of their state of health, and their release; and b) an end to the harassment of María Alejandra Díaz and Juan Barreto.
With only two days to go until the formal birth of the second de facto government in Venezuela this century (both this one, led by Maduro, like the first one headed by Pedro Carmona Estanga, representing an alliance of sectors of capital with sections of the military), we view this wave of repression as an attempt to terrorise, demobilise, silence and crush all opposition and all dissent. The fight to regain democracy, constitutionality and respect for human rights requires identifying and circumventing the intentionality of power. It is time to debate, speak out and denounce; to unite popular and democratic forces; and to mobilise in defense of human rights and popular sovereignty.
We reject the ongoing repression being carried out by the Nicolás Maduro government.
Citizens’ Platform in Defence of the Constitution
The Citizens’ Platform in Defence of the Constitution (PCDC) rejects the illegal detention of political leader Enrique Márquez, who was a candidate in the July 28 presidential elections. As his relatives have denounced in social networks and the media, Márquez’s case should be considered a forced disappearance, given para-police groups took him away and he has been deprived of his freedom, with authorities refusing to provide information on his conditions or whereabouts ever since January 7.
That same day, journalist Carlos Correa, who is the director of the civil organisation Espacio Público and has a long career as a defender of the collective rights of Venezuelans, was also arbitrarily detained.
At the time of writing, both professionals are missing and no competent authority, such as the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Ombudsman’s Office, the police or the military, have provided information on their cases. Their relatives do not know where they are or in what physical and moral conditions they are in, and are concerned by the authorities’ refusal to provide information on the whereabouts of both defenders of the law.
The government is once again repeating the same unconstitutional practices, violating the rule of law and due process, by resorting to the violent detention of opposition leaders, social activists and ordinary citizens who are made to disappear for extended periods of time before being brought before the courts weeks or months later, denied a lawyer of their choosing and kept incommunicado even from their families.
The detention of Enrique Márquez and Carlos Correa is an unjustified act. Both of them have obtained a high profile for their academic, social, political and human rights activities and commitments, which means it is impossible to accuse them of acting outside the constitutional framework. Enrique Márquez, in particular, has enthusiastically promoted the introduction of legal appeals before the Supreme Court of Justice, with the aim of summoning the National Electoral Council (CNE) to publish the tally sheets of the July 28 presidential elections as well as detailed results for each polling booth, polling centre, parish, municipality and state. More than five months after the election, the CNE has not published these results, which calls into question Nicolás Maduro’s supposed electoral triumph.
The PCDC demands the immediate release of Enrique Márquez and Carlos Correa. We also demand an end to the repressive practices carried out throughout the country by the Nicolás Maduro government, which in no way contribute to creating a climate of peace and democratic citizen’s participation. Maduro’s government has slipped into the fascist practices of the dictatorial regimes that ravaged the South American continent half a century ago.
Demanding respect for the constitution and the most basic civil rights are not a crime. With these fascist practices, Maduro’s government has placed itself outside the constitution that we Venezuelans voted in favour of in 1999, and has reinforced the very serious political crisis unleashed by its disregard of the July 28 election results, for which the CNE has still not published full and disaggregated results.
Our call is for the immediate release of all political prisoners, particularly those detained for peacefully protesting after the electoral fraud of July 28. The government, instead of releasing hundreds of citizens detained for political reasons, has in recent weeks unleashed a campaign of selective arrests against opposition leaders, with almost 20 social movement and opposition group leaders having been detained and disappeared this week.
We demand the immediate release of all political prisoners!
Edgardo Lander, Gustavo Márquez, Oly Millán, Héctor Navarro, Antonia Muñoz, Santiago Arconada,
Carlos Mendoza Potellá, Mariano Crespo, Juan García, Sofía Viloria, Luis Mogollón y Roberto López Sánchez.
Against the recent arbitrary detentions, disappearances and acts of harassment by the Maduro government
National Autonomous and Independent Coalition of Workers (CAIT)
Yesterday, Tuesday January 7, the government once again carried out a series of arbitrary detentions and police harassment against political leaders of the Popular Democratic Front (FDP). This front represents a coalition of social and political organisations that fight in defence of human rights, the constitution and popular sovereignty, and which arose as a result of the uncertainty surrounding the July 28 presidential elections.
Among those arrested is Rafael Tudares, son-in-law of former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, together with seven militants of right-wing opposition parties.
The context of these arrests occurs at a time when a pro-imperialist right-wing coup is seeking to weaken the government by denouncing its illegitimacy and authoritarianism, and is calling on the armed forces to carry out a military coup, an action of insurrectional character.
The announced return of Edmundo Gonzalez to the country, after a “tour” through several Latin American countries and the United States, in the company of former heads of state and members of the IDEA group, which continues the work of the Lima Group, could result in an unconstitutional shortcut that pushes the country towards a precipice of violence and institutional disorder.
Juan Barreto, former Mayor of Metropolitan Caracas, as well as attorney María Alejandra Díaz and Enrique Márquez, all FDP leaders, have maintained a position of democratic opposition within the constitutional context. In light of the controversy generated by the July 28 elections, they filed an appeal before the TSJ [Supreme Court of Justice] to order the publication of the disaggregated results of the presidential elections, as established by the CNE in its schedule. Counting votes cast at each polling booth will dissipate the reasonable doubt that has arisen around the July 28 elections, in which the ultra-right opposition claims that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, was the winner.
The Superior Court of Justice dismissed the legal action, pointing out the “recklessness” of the citizens who presented it. Article 28 of the Organic Law of Appeal on Constitutional Rights and Guarantees was mentioned as justification, which indicates that, upon denial of an appeal, the court must rule on the recklessness of the action filed and has the authority to impose up to 10 days of arrest or a fine, the latter of which was applied to María Alejandra Díaz.
Despite not agreeing with the determination of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice regarding his request for a review of the judgment validating the result of the July 28 election, former presidential candidate Enrique Marquez has stated that he will abide by the TSJ’s decision.
Arbitrary detentions, disappearances and harassment represent a manifest violation of the guarantees of democratic rights and liberties enshrined in the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, which have been affected by the authoritarian tendency of the government. In the face of this situation, it is crucial that we do not remain silent. Therefore, we categorically reject any call, regardless of its origin, that seeks to promote violence, disorder and confrontation, as well as coup intentions and foreign interference in the affairs of the Venezuelan nation.
In the face of the authoritarian and regressive policies of the government, it is imperative that we workers independently and autonomously establish our own agenda. This must focus on the recovery of wages, defence of labour and social rights, as well as the protection of the Labour Law and democratic, economic and political rights.
Workers must not, under any circumstances, abandon the defence of their interests, which are diametrically opposed to those of the capitalist class. Likewise, we are willing to dialogue with militants of different political orientations in order to establish an independent political grouping that defends our interests as a class, both in the political and union arena.
PCV demands respect for democratic freedoms and immediate release of former presidential candidate Enrique Márquez
Communist Party of Venezuela
The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) denounces before national and international public opinion the arbitrary detention of Enrique Márquez, former presidential candidate supported by Venezuelan communists in the elections of July 28, 2024.
On the night of January 7, the disappearance of Márquez, leader of the Centrados en la Gente party and member of the Popular Democratic Front (FDP), a platform that groups together left-wing, popular and revolutionary political and social organizations, among them the PCV, was confirmed.
A few hours before this event, other political leaders of the FDP, such as journalist Juan Barreto and constitutional lawyer María Alejandra Díaz, denounced police harassment at their homes. In the case of Barreto, a commission of the FDP, formed by the PCV and Comunes, verified that the subjects were hooded and equipped with long-range weapons.
The FDP has led an important institutional campaign to demand from the Public Powers, particularly the National Electoral Council and the Supreme Court of Justice, the publication of the results of the presidential elections, disaggregated table by table ─as established by Venezuelan law. The appeals introduced so far have been dismissed and the governmental response has been a dirty war promoted by the leadership of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) to uselessly try to link the FDP with reactionary sectors of the opposition.
From the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) we condemn this repressive escalation against the forces that clamor for the restitution of the Constitution and the rule of law in the country.
We reiterate that in Venezuela a dangerous conspiracy is underway by the constituted powers ─under total control of the PSUV leadership – to disregard the will of the people. The Government of Nicolás Maduro has deployed in the past days ─unprecedented in recent history─ its repressive forces, to prevent the rejection of the people to its anti-democratic maneuvers from turning into mobilization. The PCV vindicates the right to peaceful protest and political organization.
We demand the appearance and immediate release of former presidential candidate Enrique Marquez and the cessation of government repression. Defending the Constitution is not a crime.
The PCV calls on the genuinely democratic and popular forces to the broadest unity of action to confront the authoritarian drift of the anti-worker and anti-popular administration of Nicolás Maduro and to advance towards the recovery of constitutional guarantees.
We are still on our feet! Joining forces and organizing struggles!