Venezuela’s Top Brass Swear Loyalty to Maduro
after the blatant fraud in his reelection effort
Venezuelans may never get a chance to see the falsified copies of the vote tally sheets if they are actually in the hands of the Supreme Court.
HAVANA TIMES – Venezuelan military leaders and the defense minister reacted violently Tuesday to a call from opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and candidate Edmundo Gonzalez to stop repressing citizens protesting the documented theft of the July 28th election. So far over a thousand protestors have been arrested and the death toll is at least 11. As is routine for years in Venezuela, due process for those detained and their right to a defense are out the window.
The idea of those most benefitting economically from the Maduro regime reacting in unison to the call to the rank-and-file troops to disobey orders was to be expected. They pledged blind loyalty to Maduro as their supreme leader, approving his reelection for the 2025-2031 period even though the vote tally sheets published by the opposition show he lost by a wide margin of 67 to 30%.
Maduro’s chief prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, had chimed in the day before accusing Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez of serious crimes for opposing the fraudulent figures presented by the National Electoral Council without the required precinct by precinct proof and mandatory audit.
Maduro sees himself as a “revolutionary” who is beyond questioning, virtual son of his mentor Hugo Chavez. If he says he and his appointed authorities say he won the election, to him and them, proof isn’t necessary because revolutionaries always tell the truth, and are public servants only interested in benefiting the people.
Such is used as a rule in most dictatorships and the language is very similar where the leaders accuse any dissenters of their governments, or policies, of betraying the homeland among a host of other horrendous crimes including terrorism, covered over the years in Havana Times, especially regarding Cuba and Nicaragua.
Now Maduro has asked his Supreme Court magistrates to give the final validation of his reelection. The Electoral Council said Tuesday that it turned over copies of the vote tally sheets to the Court, while having never publishing them as is required by electoral procedures. A week ago, the opposition was able to publish 81.7% of the precinct voting results collected by the tens of thousands of persistent poll witnesses on the night of the elections.
Venezuelans may never get a chance to see the falsified copies of the vote tally sheets if they are actually in the hands of the Supreme Court. Altering over 30,000 precinct returns to coincide with the invented totals that the Electoral Council said gave Maduro a 52% to 43% victory will take a lot of creativity and immense technical skill. However, the fact is, Maduro’s Supreme Court can just say Maduro won, case over, and never show the proof.
If they do so, as many analysts expect, the Supreme Court, just like the Electoral Council, won’t be fooling many and the stigma of having blatantly stole an election will weigh heavy on the illegitimate government in the eyes of its own population, as well as in relations with countries of the region and beyond, many of whom have been experiencing the consequences of the prolonged exodus of millions of Venezuelans.
As an extra, Nicolas Maduro and Donald Trump have something in common. On the campaign trail in recent months both said if they lost their upcoming elections there would be a bloodbath. In the case of Maduro, that is already unfolding with the stepped-up repression against citizens protesting the stolen election.