The first part of my reflection -inevitably and heartfelt- I want to dedicate to a great Venezuelan, the former Opinion Editor of El Universal for decades: Don Miguel Maita. The second part is addressed to the brave and glorious Venezuelan people, for their exemplary and luminous civic attitude, in the presidential elections of our country, and what happened just a few hours ago in the aforementioned electoral event.
Things in life, I write about two episodes that are apparently distant and in the distance, but ultimately, two events that touch the deepest part of my heart, my humanity and my conscience.
Miguel Maita. A Universal Editor
I met Miguel Maita when I started writing for El Universal. Almost 30 years have passed since then. My first appearances in El Universal (paper) were spasmodic. I couldn’t write short, one column. Writing just right doesn’t come easily to me. To achieve “the objective” my only mentor and “literary whip” was Miguel Maita. Other editors made other suggestions to me: not to write with insults (Apolinar Martinez/2001), to avoid the unnecessary use of epithets which are cloying (Pedro Ramón Romera/2001) or to make historical citations in accordance with the researched truth and not speculation (El Vito, Victor López/Meridiano). Miguel, for his part, asked for three very specific things: i.- respect for the reader, which is to write without offending; ii.- not to personalize or suggest titles in response to individuals, and iii.- not to speculate or to exceed in citations or parentheses. He was not a man who spent time talking on the phone. However, I had the privilege of having some long conversations with him. Coordinating, organizing and harmonizing more than 350 columnists per week did not leave room for discussions or ready-to-read corrections. Either you wrote with respect and punctuality or you would not publish.
Miguel Maita is a very pleasant, direct, decent man, a lover of life and culture. His dream is to learn and travel. He likes to hear about experiences in other latitudes and suggested sharing them with readers. I never heard Miguel imposture or give an inadequate response. If a delivery was late, he wrote promptly: “Attention. Alert. Miguel Maita. Pending article. If it is not received before noon, it will not be published.” He never censored a word. He simply suggested the use of good verbs and zero hostility. He led this discipline with solvency for many years with the best writers in the country.
With that respect and moderation, Miguel won the affection of all the columnists, but also of the readers, who were his weakness. El Universal has undoubtedly had one of the most important opinion bodies in the country. In thousands of issues he never expressed an opinion on political positions. His journalistic ethics have always been impeccable.
When I saw the publication of journalist Yoli Obelmejías on social media about Maita’s health, my heart broke. It is not fair that a journalist of his career and hierarchy, a person of his human and professional quality, should reach a critical situation… because of a country incapable of protecting its best and most educated citizens. We have seen the same thing happen to our teachers and retirees.
How grateful I am to journalist Obelmejías for her urgent call despite the harsh image. How much I celebrate the noble and quick reaction of his colleagues, of many of us who love him and remember him as a family member. Because Miguel was always present on every holiday, every Easter or every Christmas, to wish us happiness and joy with sweetness and elegance, while reminding us – with Spartan responsibility – to have our essay ready to go to the proofreader and the press on time.
The reaction of the people to come to the rescue and support of Miguel Maita was proportional to the same beauty and nobility that he demonstrated for so many years of journalistic life with his columnists and his sacred public opinion; and attention, the same generosity that mutatis mutandi, was exhibited by the people of Venezuela who went out to vote civically this weekend.
Thanks to the spirit of solidarity of his colleagues and friends, Maita is alive. It is only fair to acknowledge journalists like Yoli Obelmejias, Pedro García Otero and Ernesto Villegas (forgive me if I omit other good Samaritans) for their immediate help in favor of Miguel Maita. Today we know that our dear and eternal editor is in good care and shelter, in a healthy recovery. And we hope that he will soon return to his former glory and be bathed in the light of freedom of the new Venezuela.
On citizen participation: the vote.
Emotion invades our spirit, tinged with indignation but defiance. After a massive election day where citizen participation exceeded 12 mm of votes, Venezuelans demonstrated once again that we are made of democratic and libertarian wood. We will also demonstrate that there is no room for more republican artifice and spoils.
The example of the Venezuelan people has been truly praiseworthy. People bet on voting as a tool for change in a peaceful manner. The electoral process was carried out without major difficulties and with very few incidents. Only when the time came to close the tables and count the ballots did the collective hordes appear. The day passed peacefully and with overflowing enthusiasm, with only a few attempts at advantage, hostility or abuse of power. But they were neutralized by the organized people determined to exercise and protect their right to choose, without losing their composure. The tendency of Edmundo González to triumph was strongly noted by exit pollsters, which is recorded in the minutes and will be vindicated.
Abroad – despite the fact that more than 4 million Venezuelans were unable to vote – mass rallies were notable in cities such as Miami, Madrid, Barcelona, Rome, Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires. The solidarity of our diaspora has also been obvious. A large majority of Venezuelans organized themselves around the world to support the members of the polling station in Venezuela and share information about the development of the process. We also applaud the numerous compatriots who traveled to Venezuela to vote.
Once again, Venezuelans have shown that we like to vote, that we believe in the ballot as the golden rule to resolve our conflicts and elect our authorities, as well as the model of power that we prefer. Maria Corina and Edmundo Gonzalez are a genuine representation of that collective desire, and that is why a large majority of Venezuelans went out to vote without fear and with the determination to defend their decision, which was visible to the entire planet. There is no doubt who was the winner of the contest.
This story does not end here.
At the time of finishing this article (dawning in European time) we receive the official results. Despite the trends, exit polls and counted minutes (as well as those recorded on social networks), the CNE announced Nicolás Maduro as the winner with 51.2%, placing Edmundo González with 44.2% and the rest with 4.6%. These partial results were released with millions of votes still to be processed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “We are seriously concerned that the announced results do not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people…the international community is watching this very closely and will respond accordingly.” Brazil and Chile are asking the UN and technical observers and specialists to review the process. Josep Borrell from the European Parliament is demanding that the will of the people be respected. Milei warns that he will not tolerate electoral fraud and the US is calling for a recount of votes. From Spain, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, requested in X “the presentation of the minutes of all the electoral tables to guarantee fully verifiable results” and to respect “the democratic will” of the Venezuelans. The Chilean president, Gabriel Boric, expressed that his government will not recognize “any result that is not verifiable,” and added that the published results “are difficult to believe” and the foreign minister of Peru, Javier González-Olaechea, also expressed his government’s strong condemnation of what he described as a “summation of irregularities with the intention of fraud,” and said that they will not accept “the violation of the popular will of the Venezuelan people… Cuba and Bolivia congratulated Maduro.
The truth is that what happened is not compatible with the truth recorded during the electoral season. In the electoral records and exit polls, the reality was different, that is, a resounding and majority victory for Edmundo González. Trying to hide this truth will have a very high political cost. The people will not accept it and neither will the international community recognize it.
So this election, although it does not define the process of change, liberalization and reconstruction of the country, does open a path that began the next day. It is from the vindication of what happened that this story of citizen redemption begins, that is, when an unstoppable process of redemption begins, revealing what was voted for, watched over and loved. This is what Maria Corina Machado declared: “Today we want to tell all Venezuelans and the entire world that Venezuela has a new president-elect and it is Edmundo González Urrutia.” We will not consent to a violation of popular sovereignty, she stressed.
From that moment on, the forces in dispute begin a new challenge of governability. There will be no command or citizen obedience, but there is an underlying and evident electoral management that is alien to the popular will. Maduro will not be able to remain in power for long if he intends to claim an undeserved victory. It is not voluntarism. History says so and the Venezuelan people have sentenced him. As has been evidenced, the regime has not won at any table, in any stratum and in any state. And María Corina Machado also said it clearly and forcefully: “This has been something so overwhelming, so great that we have won in all sectors and strata of the country, and we all saw it in the street, we know what happened today.”
In the midst of uncertainty, only the truth reflected in the records, in the facts and in the massive turnout of a people fed up with misery, lies and neglect, will allow the nation to redirect its destiny in peace and stability. On this occasion, neither force, nor intimidation nor repression, whether police, military or militia, will contain the glorious will for change of a brave people. The post-electoral atmosphere is beginning to recall what was experienced with Toledo in Fujimori’s Peru, Evo’s Bolivia or Venezuela, which aborted the fraud of Pérez Jiménez in 1957.
There are times when history does not favor the interpretation of good and new times. But there are other occasions and circumstances that challenge history and make it stubborn and contumacious, turning evil and lies into light and beauty. “Respect the will of the people” shouted the people, fearless in the face of the military and Chavista collectives. And they will not be silent. Once again, Chavismo built its own reality with blood and fire, determined to disdain the will of the people.
Newspapers such as La Nación (Argentina) have denounced: “The Maduro government had stopped the transmission of data from each of the voting centres to prevent the Unitary Platform from accessing the data system at the CNE. The courage of the citizens was attacked by the Chavista groups, who were riding their motorbikes and high-end vehicles. The first images of the wounded began to appear on social networks from the border towns of Táchira and Apure, and later reached the capital. The first fatal victim was a young man shot in Táchira.”
It has been an exemplary and liberating journey, stained with blood as Maduro threatened. How we would have liked to write it and share it, healthily, happily, truly. However, now is when the true story will be written. We are convinced that even in the midst of opacity and dispossession, we are on the way back, on the way back home. History this time will not be twisted. Nothing more can be asked of a good, brave and grieving people.
God bless the brave people. God bless you, Miguel. Soon we will all celebrate together joyfully, in democracy and freedom. The transition has begun….
@ovierablaco
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