Venezuela: The Opposition’s Calendar to Remove Maduro from Office
HAVANA TIMES — Venezuelan political leader Henry Ramos reiterated today that the opposition is committed to present to the country a constitutional solution next year to bring about a change of government.
The veteran Social Democratic leader, who is a candidate to chair the National Assembly (Congress) under opposition control as of January, said the upcoming legislative agenda remains the strategy to seek a change of government via constitutional and electoral action.
In his Sunday newspaper article in the “El Nuevo País,” daily, Ramos said in general terms the election proposals of the Mesa de Unidad Democrática (MUD) opposition alliance included a change in the current political status and recovery of the autonomy of the legislature.
In the elections of December 6, the opposition won an absolute majority of 112 seats out of 165 seats, which will end, as of January, the government majority after more than 15 years of Chavismo.
Ramos recalled that the MUD priorities of the new Assembly are: an amnesty law for the release of imprisoned opposition leaders and to present a package of laws seeking a solution to the country’s serious economic problems.
He added that the commitment remains in effect to “seek a constitutional, democratic, peaceful and electoral solution to the change of government within a period of six months following the inauguration of the new Assembly.”
“These agreements signed and ratified by all that are part of the democratic unity, are still valid and we will honor them,” said Ramos.
President Nicolas Maduro said he would veto any law to release political prisoners, including Leopoldo Lopez, who was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison for instigating anti-government protests last year.
Ramos said that all proposed topics have priority for the new legislative period, for “all are dramatically urgent and can be addressed all at once without exclusion or delay.”
“The political, social and economic problems that affect us are inextricably interwoven and are all part of the same crisis. One and all of them must be addressed at the same time,” he said.
Lopez’s party, Voluntad Popular (Popular Will), is the flagship promoting a recall referendum against Maduro, legally possible as of April 2016, when the president’s six-year term reaches the half-way point.
Venezuela is Cuba’s most important political and economic ally and the situation in the South American country is being watched very closely. The island receives all of its imported oil from Venezuela under a highly favorable trade agreement which allows Cuba to pay in-kind with medical and other professional services.
It seems to me that there is an irony here: Cuba is in the process of liberalizing its economy, to take advantage of the market by empowering individual entrepreneurs, while Venezuela was going in the opposite direction. Is it time for Cuba to get into the Revolution Exporting business again?
“… a college education does not necessarily make a dumb person any smarter or more capable or an already capable person necessarily any better” …That comment John has be you most inane comment to date! A higher education is precisely meant to make a person more capable by arming them with the requisite knowledge to move forward in life and make them, as you say….better. Thus Leopoldo Lopez, a Harvard educated economist is infinitely better qualified to manage an economy than a bus driver with a high school degree….as is so readily apparent when looking at the mess that is Venezuela.
There are scores of jobs where a poorly-educated but well-meaning person can contribute to society. President of Venezuela, at this time in their history, is not one of those jobs. I sincerely believe that those Latin American countries that were once led by left-wing despots are evolving back towards a NEW middle ground. The old right-wing policies that led to the rise of the progressive regimes are never to return.
On the contrary, there are numerous examples of Presidents and Prime Ministers not standing for reelection or stepping down before the end of their terms.
Fidel stepped down voluntarily when he had health problems.
Of course Maduro will attempt to keep his office.
All presidents do the same (except Nixon. )
Venezuela had something like an 80% poverty rate before Chavismo cut that way down in the years when oil prices could sustain the poverty alleviating programs instituted to alleviate the poverty that is intrinsic to most Third World neo-liberal capitalist societies.
Any new government led by the right will cut those programs and rush back to the same failed neo-liberal economies that preceded Chavismo.
History will repeat itself
As for Maduro’s lack of education, a college education does not necessarily make a dumb person any smarter or more capable or an already capable person necessarily any better .
There are incandescently ignorant people who actually have degrees; people who cannot define capitalism, communism, socialism and other factors directly controlling their own lives.
For you to criticize anyone born into the economic and social conditions that Maduro was for not getting an education is just the height of hypocrisy on your part.
Blaming the victims of poverty caused by the free enterprise capitalism and imperial foreign policy you so love in Venezuela is no different from how you blame the Cuban society for the poverty inflicted by a successful 54 year old embargo by the Empire.
At least you’re consistent in your hypocrisy.
Determination or ruthlessness? Either way, the Venezuelan people will not be well-served by more of the same. In the US, there is a tradicion where politicians, company executives, and sports coaches don’t wait to be forcibly removed from their jobs. They resign early “for the good of the organization”. Maduro, as a Castro disciple, will never resign. He will have to be forced to leave. I agree with you that he will not go easy.
Do not underestiamte Maduro’s dtermination to stay in power.
Time for Maduro to go. The economy is a disaster. He simple has nothing to offer. More misery is not an option. The only people with any wealth are his and Chavize crony family members. It’s over. He can go quietly or he can go ugly.
The Castros can spoil a wet dream. Venezuela was far from perfect, but before Castros’ puppet Chavez came to power in 1998, it was a beautiful country with beautiful people and unimaginable oil reserves. The country’s potential was immeasurable. Lacking Chavez’ charm and with oil prices under $35 per barrel, Maduro never stood a chance. Venezuela now has the world’s second highest murder rate and the world’s highest inflation rate. I hope that Venezuela’s next president has at least graduated from high school, something that Maduro never bothered to accomplish.