MIAMI.- Former Venezuelan ambassador to Germany Otto Gebauer, in an exclusive interview with DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS, stated that the Nicolás Maduro regime has a structure powered by China and other allies such as Cuba, Iran, the FARC, the ELN and the Aragua train to “do what it has to do”, in its goal of winning the presidential elections on July 28.
The former military man, who spent 12 years in prison for his opposition work in Venezuela, stated that “the Castro (Cuba) domination manual is formidable” and that “Venezuela is a great testing laboratory where they control the media, the social networks and even have their own ‘influencers’.”
Gebauer, in line with what was expressed by other former Venezuelan officers such as retired General Antonio Rivero, does not rule out the possibility of a boycott by the regime, using the dispute with Guyana over the Essequibo territory as a pretext.
He warned that “the dictatorship has moved the date of the elections from December to July so as not to run into the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the presidency of the United States” and this prevents him from legitimizing himself. “With Biden they could negotiate and achieve that legitimation, with Trump I don’t think so,” he said.
Furthermore, the former diplomat called on the European Union, and specifically Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, to assume a less ambiguous position towards the Caracas regime.
-How do you analyze the events in your country? From his point of view, how is this whole mess unfolding ahead of July 28?
The dictatorship has been in power for 25 years and has practically destroyed the opposition party structures, infiltrating them, and has used all the resources of the State, not only the weapons of the Republic, but all its financial resources and its technological power to know the day up to date with what is happening in the opposition political parties. Talking about an opposition that is going to come out and confront each other, and that will have the capacity to carry out elections, technically, is impossible because the regime manages everything in Venezuela, in addition to the violence of armed groups, such as the Tren de Aragua, and it is necessary to know how many Aragua trains or groups similar to that operate in Venezuela in favor of the dictatorship. We also have to talk about the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), the ELN (National Liberation Army), which also have a very active participation in Venezuela. Let’s add Chinese Intelligence and technology, which also operates in favor of the dictatorship, and let’s not forget Iran, which is another actor that has a platform in Venezuela for the expansion of Islamic fundamentalism towards Latin America. If the opposition will reach the elections on July 28, that alone, and unfortunately, will be decided by the dictatorship. For this they have control of the National Electoral Council and, depending on their interests, they will decide whether or not there will be elections, and if there are we know that they will be rigged elections in such a way that they obtain victory.
-The world closely followed what María Corina Machado experienced with her disqualification, then the letter from Corina Yoris was presented, which did not prosper, now the opposition pins its hopes on Edmundo González Urrutia and, apparently, the regime is admitting it. What could he be planning the dictatorship?
Propaganda and disinformation are issues that the dictatorship handles very well. We know that this comes from the former Soviet Union and what communism was at the time during the Cold War. There is something that I have to accept as a former soldier and expert in intelligence and that is that the Castro domination manual is formidable. I think they improved and surpassed the old methods of the Soviet Union. For Cuba, Venezuela is a great testing laboratory where they control the media, social networks and even have their own ‘influencers’. These are the ones who set the ball rolling, for example, saying that society is afraid, and create a matrix of opinion that distracts society. I worked for a while with María Corina Machado, she is a very organized woman with a lot of knowledge of the electoral issue. She talks about the famous 600,000 people who are going to participate in the elections and that is where these electoral processes are stolen. There is continuous fraud there. There are also limitations for propaganda and sabotage, not allowing optimal supervision of the opposition parties. In the processes in which I was able to participate, the opposition was restricted. Fraud also occurs with the distribution of electoral records at the national level. They also have the support of China and I wonder about the role of the United States, with an administration that has been permissive with the dictatorship, which has given the regime the ability to remain calm.
-Some senior Venezuelan officials, today exiled in different parts of the world, such as General Antonio Rivero, have warned about the possibility of a boycott of the elections by the regime using the dispute with Guyana over the Essequibo territory as a pretext. Do you think it is viable?
The dictatorship has absolute control of Venezuela. They are going to do what their analysts and advisors recommend by July 28. If they have to suspend the elections, they are going to suspend them for any reason. There is no doubt about that and it is good that the world knows it openly because they control the lives of Venezuelans. In fact, the elections should be in December and they were scheduled for July to avoid the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the presidency of the United States, and having no one to legitimize a victory for Maduro. With Biden they could negotiate and achieve that legitimation in July, with Trump in January 2025 I don’t think so. With everything that has happened in Venezuela and everything that has been exported from there to Latin America, the Venezuelan dictatorship must be put in order. As simple as that, because it is disturbing that this dictatorship, with all the amount of money and resources that Venezuela has, is being used to destabilize and generate chaos in Latin America.
-You are based in Germany. The United States is generally asked to take strong action to try to dismantle the regime. Venezuelan, but let’s also talk about the European Union, and specifically about countries like Spain. How do you rate the role of these political actors?
For four years I represented Venezuela before the Germans. I can say that Germany’s concern is very great about what is happening in Venezuela. The Germans, when individual sanctions were applied to certain representatives of the dictatorship for human rights violations, immediately approved those sanctions. But Germany, as part of the European Union, had to limit itself to the policy of the European Union and to what its highest representative, who is Mr. Josep Borrell (High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Politics), says and does. of Security), which comes from the socialist Pedro Sánchez (president of the Spanish government), who has an ambiguous behavior. Now I am not an ambassador and I can tell the European leadership and Mr. Borrell that it is enough, that he cannot continue with this ambiguous game that in the end favors the Venezuelan dictatorship with Mr. (José Luis Rodríguez) Zapatero.
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