The Venezuela Debate

Comment Posted by the New York Times

John McAuliff September 9, 2024

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/08/world/americas/edmundo-gonzalez-venezuela-opposition-candidate.html

The Maduro government reminds us of what the US could have become but for the principled courage of Vice President Pence.

Our Supreme Court would have been as compliant with power as Venezuela's. Maduro's government and its international allies justify their case with alternative realities as insulated as MAGA's, and probably also believe them. González flight shows we are heading for another painful dead-end on Venezuela. Each side holds to its truth but only one side has the power to implement it. Isolation and sanctions will not achieve any more than the last time, even though this opposition case is far more credible than Trump's Guaidó myth. Brazil and Colombia have opened a path by calling for new better supervised elections. If that were accompanied by a credible non-partisan National Electoral Commission as well as legal and security guarantees for the losing side and their foreign allies, a more secure and mutually respected result could be achieved. Both Maduro and the opposition reject a new election, whether from pride or uncertainty of the result. The opposition will accede to US and European advice. Maduro is more likely to accept if Cuba joins with its friends in Brazil and Colombia. Cuba does not control Venezuela but it has deep relationships and respect throughout the country, including with the military. The US can encourage Cuban helpfulness by fully restoring Obama's policies and promising to end the embargo and return Guantanamo.

Letter to White House

August 16, 2024

Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris,

Congratulations for the uplifting spirit of your remarks yesterday.   Our country is very fortunate for your current and future leadership and an effective transition between them.

I am writing about two matters of deep humanitarian concern.

Yesterday Mr. President you expressed support for the proposal by Presidents Lula and Petro that there be new better monitored elections in Venezuela.  This is the best most democratic idea I have heard to get Venezuela and the world out of a dead-end conflict that can only result in further suffering, including the risk of civil war.  Its non-partisan value is demonstrated by immediate rejection from both Maduro and Machado who will and must insist their side won.

Last night I wrote to a high-ranking person in Cuba's Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

"President Biden and President Diaz-Canel should rise above the small mindedness of their national security bureaucracies and support Lula and Petro's call for new monitored elections in Venezuela.   A repetition of six years ago but with a more discredited government in Caracas is not healthy for anyone."

It would be remarkable and effective if both the US and Cuba, allied with opposing sides in Venezuela, advocated a fresh start.  I believe Cuba would be encouraged to take such a step if it saw pre-Trump reengagement from the US, including removal from the SSOT list, resuspension of Title III and restoration of full travel (cruises, hotel use, independent people to people, performances).

Regarding the ongoing human tragedy of Gaza, I take seriously your support for a ceasefire and return of hostages.  However, you are being played by Netanyahu and Israeli extremists.  It is time to say initially privately and then publicly that the US will provide no more shipments of military aid to Israel until, and only as long as, there is a ceasefire in Gaza.

Regards,

John McAuliff

Fund for Reconciliation and Development

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8/16/24

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/16/menendez-ends-independent-senate-campaign/

Bob Menendez departure frees up President Biden to keep his campaign promises to restore Obama's engagement with Cuba.

Too much of the Trump/Bolton/Pompeo maximum pressure policies remain in place with dire human consequences.  Without further delay, in the spirit of his partnership with Obama, President Biden should

 1)  remove Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism

 2)  enable more normal travel by allowing cruises, use of hotels, independent people to people travel and performances

 3)  suspend again Title III of the Helms-Burton law to prevent nuisance suits interfering with US investment and business with Cuba

 4)  respect the humanitarian impact of Cuban medical teams serving in other countries

 It is reasonable to expect that if the US undoes the economic and political damage of Trump in bilateral relations, Cuba will undo the damage of the Trump era to its socio-political structures, including release of protestors of the conditions exacerbated by US policies.

 Renewal of trust can open the door to ending the widely criticized unilateral embargo and to undoing the unequal treaty that gave us the Guantanamo prison and base.  The US and Cuba may even be able to find common ground in a solution to the Venezuela problem, such as supporting the call by President Lula and Petro for new elections.

--John McAuliff

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8/15/24

US, Brazil float new Venezuela election despite government, opposition rebuffs

By Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/brazils-lula-says-new-election-could-be-solution-venezuela-crisis-2024-08-15/

White House walks back Biden comment on renewed Venezuelan election

Biden was asked as he left the White House to board his Marine One helicopter for an afternoon event in Maryland whether he supported new elections in Venezuela, and he responded “I do.”....

A spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council said Biden intended to speak to the absurdity of Venezuelan President Maduro failing to come clean after claiming victory in the July 28 vote, with data suggesting that opposition candidate Edmundo González prevailed.

“It is abundantly clear that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes,” White House National Security Council spokesman Sean Savett added in a message posted to social media. “We call for the will of the people to be respected and for discussions to begin on a transition back to democratic norms.”  

  https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/white-house-walks-back-biden-comment-on-renewed-venezuelan-election-124081600056_1.html

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8/12/24

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/08/10/us-policy-venezuela/

The State Department is correct in having Brazil, Colombia and Mexico take the lead. The most reasonable external demand at this point is that local voting records be fully and truly published. 

 

Until that happens, we have one self-interested party vs. another with countries taking sides based on their own ideology and political alignments.  The opposition and the US press may be right but they don't have the ability to force Venezuelan authorities to back down.

 

What would lead various interests in Venezuela to accept the public embarrassment of a different vote count?  No doubt prior negotiation of power sharing and legal protections for current leaders will help.

 

Another factor is the private and public attitude of Cuba which has deep and long standing political, emotional and economic ties to the Chavistas and influence throughout the country.   Its current public position is rigidly supportive of Maduro's claimed victory but if he lied to them, Cuban intelligence must know that.  That makes interesting a critical analysis by a retired Cuban state security agent still living in Cuba.   https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2024/08/a-cubans-critique-of-official-support.html

 

If Cuba joined with its friends in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico in order to overcome all doubt about the election results, that could tip the balance.  However, at a minimum Cuba must receive guarantees that its medical teams will be able to remain and that it will continue to receive Venezuelan oil at a discount.

There should also be comparable action from the US toward Cuba.  If Havana is prepared to risk its special relationship with Caracas, Washington must be prepared to fundamentally change its relations with Cuba.  In the short term that means full restoration of the Obama engagement with Cuba (SSOT, travel, Title III);  in the longer term, end of the embargo and return of Guantanamo.

 

The solution to Venezuela is a rational regional reconfiguration.

--John McAuliff

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Lula on Venezuela: Maduro's Government is “disgusting” and has “an authoritarian tendency”

Friday, August 16th 2024 - 21:32 UTC  Merco Press

Lula expressed doubts about the validity of the recent presidential elections in Venezuela

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has voiced strong concerns about the political situation in Venezuela, describing the current regime under Nicolás Maduro as “very unpleasant, with an authoritarian tendency.” However, Lula stopped short of labeling it a “dictatorship,” underscoring the need for transparency in the electoral process.

In an interview with Radio Gaúcha on Friday, Lula expressed doubts about the validity of the recent presidential elections in Venezuela, held on July 28, which have been mired in controversy. “The opposition says it won, [Nicolás] Maduro says he won, and I can only recognize that the process was democratic if they present the evidence,” Lula stated, emphasizing the need for the publication of the official electoral records.

The election results, which the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared in favor of Maduro with 50.20% of the votes against 44.20% for opposition candidate Edmundo González, have sparked widespread protests and accusations of fraud from the opposition. Lula’s comments come as both the Venezuelan government and the opposition have rejected his proposal to hold new elections if the results are not verifiable. “They did not like the idea,” Lula acknowledged, noting that the resolution of Venezuela's political crisis “depends solely and exclusively on the behavior of Venezuelans.”

Both the opposition and Maduro Thursday rejected Lula's suggestion that fresh elections could be held as a way out of the current crisis stemming from the July 28 polls when the CNE announced his victory but the opposition cried “fraud” since no documents were produced to back up that result.

Lula reiterated that the Brazilian government’s recognition of the election results hinges on verifying the accuracy of the CNE’s numbers. “It is necessary to know if the numbers are true,” he stressed, reflecting broader concerns within the international community about the legitimacy of the electoral process in Venezuela.

Lula suggests new elections for Venezuela; Machado opposes

Thursday, August 15th 2024 - 19:57 UTC  Merco Press

Maduro knows he owes an explanation to society and to the world, Lula said

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Thursday suggested Venezuela should hold fresh elections to solve the controversy stemming from the July 28 polls the National Electoral Council (CNE) said were won by incumbent President Nicolás Maduro without showing any evidence, while the opposition maintains Edmundo González Urrutia triumphed by a landslide.

“He knows he owes an explanation to society and to the world,” Lula said after calling Maduro to produce the minutes to a “reliable” body. However, disenfranchised opposition leader María Corina Machado argued that Lula's proposal would be tantamount to turning the back on the Venezuelan people who have already spoken.

Lula insisted he “still does not recognize” Maduro's victory and suggested the regime should organize new elections. ”Maduro still has six months left in office. He is the president regardless of the elections. If he has good sense, he could try to make a call to the people of Venezuela, maybe even call for an electoral program, establish criteria for the participation of all candidates (...), and let observers from all over the world go to watch the elections,“ Lula explained in a radio interview.

The opposition cried ”fraud“ after July 28. So far at least 25 people have been killed in the ensuing protests, 192 others were injured and over 2,400 have been arrested.

The CNE has not yet published the details of each voting table, citing a ”cyber-terrorist attack“ which the Carter Center and other observers dismiss.

Lula also admitted that Brazil's ties with Venezuela were deteriorating in the current scenario: ”I have had relations with Venezuela since I took office in 2002, I had many relations with [Hugo] Chávez [...]. And this relationship has deteriorated because the political situation there is deteriorating in Venezuela,“ he stressed.

Maduro ruled out any negotiations with Machado, who also rejected Lula's idea which she claimed was ”disrespectful“ while pledging to fight until the Chavist leader recognized ”that he lost.“ Lula's plan was reportedly endorsed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro and these two countries plus Mexico try to position themselves as mediators between Chavismo and the opposition.

”It is going to a second election, if he does not like the results, is it going to a third? A fourth? A fifth until Maduro likes the results?,“ Machado argued.

”To disregard what happened on July 28 is a lack of respect to Venezuelans who have given everything and who expressed popular sovereignty. Sovereignty is respected, and the elections have already taken place,” she added ahead of Aug. 17's ecumenical protest.

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Additional Resources

Jorge Castañeda: Cuban Government is Absent from Negotiations on the Venezuelan Crisis

Former Mexican Foreign Minister: Havana is the only government that really has influence over Maduro and the Venezuelan Armed Forces

https://confidencial.digital/english/jorge-castaneda-the-government-of-cuba-is-absent-from-negotiations-on-the-venezuelan-crisis/

'So many similarities'

How Venezuela’s history can inform its present-day election crisis

By Jim Glade and Isabella Lapadula, Al Jazeera  4 Sep 2024

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/longform/2024/9/4/how-venezuelas-recent-history-can-inform-its-present-day-election-crisis

"Who Are the Venezuelan Opposition? Leonardo Flores & Alejandro Velasco Debate Election Aftermath"     Democracy Now  August 13, 2024

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/8/13/venezuela_post_election_crisis_maduro_gonzalez?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=94050e81-9f39-49ad-aaf4-5a43adae2b88

Interview with Claudio Katz: “With or without the minutes [vote tallies], the United States wants Venezuela’s oil”  

August 11, 2024 by Indymedia Workers

https://argentina.indymedia.org/2024/08/11/entrevista-a-claudio-katz-con-o-sin-actas-estados-unidos-quiere-el-petroleo-de-venezuela/

A Deal That Could Save Venezuela

By Francisco Rodríguez   New York Times   Aug. 7, 2024

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/07/opinion/venezuela-deal-political-crisis.html?te=1&nl=your-places%3A-global-update&emc=edit_ypgu_20240807

"As Tension over Venezuelan Election Escalates, the Left Debates Who Won Contested Vote"    Democracy Now  August 05, 2024   https://www.democracynow.org/2024/8/5/venezuela_maduro_gonzalez_election_crisis

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Petition to President Biden, Presidential Candidate Harris

    https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/make-this-election-a-turning-point-on-cuba-and-venezuela

A Cuban's Critique of Official Support for Maduro, MinRex Statement

 

Venezuela, its presidential elections and the left Posted on August 5, 2024 / By Manuel David Orrio del Rosario Translated by Walter Lippmann for CubaNews Havana, 08/24/05. – In this first quarter of the 21st century, a prophecy by Friedrich Engels seems to have been forgotten: “The day will come when the great workers’ struggles will move from the barricades to the ballot boxes.” This is what is happening in Latin America, where after Hugo Chávez Frías's electoral victory in Venezuela in 1998, a wave of diverse leftists has won and lost election after election and has also gone through what has been called "institutional coups d'état," such as the one that Dilma Rousseff was a victim of in Brazil or Luis Ignacio Da Silva (Lula) himself, who is today making a victorious return. Of course, it is foolish to think that the hand of the US special services is not behind the attempts to hinder or frustrate the advance of the left in Latin America, which the nation of the Potomac has considered its "backyard" since the Monroe Doctrine ; History, the most implacable of teachers, offers ample evidence; it is by no means impossible that Washington's hand is at work, right now, in the very controversial Venezuelan presidential elections. Coat of arms of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Wikipedia. However, this journalist will never forget one of the damning sentences of the man who was his best boss in Cuban State Security, from which he is now retired: “The special services only work based on real conflicts, which they stimulate or discourage according to their interests and objectives.” If instead of looking at the beam in the eye of the US government, its “ethically unacceptable” economic sanctions against Venezuela and “the hand of the CIA,” one chooses to also look at the beam in the eye of Chavismo-turned-Madurismo, a good question is why, according to the National Electoral Council of Venezuela, 48.04% of those who voted did not vote for the government; that is, a “trifle” of 5,810,619 Venezuelans, not counting the approximately 5 million emigrants whose right to vote is enshrined in law , but were able to vote? How is it that – according to the press – only a minimal percentage could do so? What would have happened if those migrants had been able to vote? Does anyone realize that attributing to the CIA the fact that more than 5.8 million voters did not vote for Maduro is like awarding “The Company” a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics? Whether you like it or not, fighting for freedom, social justice, and solidarity is futile if it is not supported by credibility. Just ask Fidel Castro, who, between brilliant successes and glaring errors, never lost sight of the principle of “never lying or violating ethical principles” of his concept of Revolution. Suppose there is one thing that is happening in the controversial Venezuelan elections. In that case, it is not so much the expected hostility of the United States or the international press but rather a loss of credibility that, with more or less elegance, is being demanded by men of the proven left, such as Lula, Gustavo Petro, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), Gabriel Boric and others, whose demands for electoral transparency will be successful? They demand it, even at the price of the loss of power by Maduro's government, because what is at stake is the credibility of the left in Latin America and, therefore, the future of utopia. Criticism of these statesmen is already appearing, coming from cheap propaganda, the offspring of ignorance, dogmatism, the so-called caviar left or vulgar vested interests. To cite just three examples of who these leaders are, Lula gained his prestige as a metalworker and union leader who successfully confronted the criminal Brazilian military dictatorship and contributed to its downfall; but who doubts that he was at risk of being assassinated?; Gustavo Petro was a member of the M-19 , an important Colombian guerrilla movement; he was arrested and tortured; AMLO, a politician with a brilliant career, was in some way the replacement for the assassinated Luis Donaldo Colosio (1994), who aimed to be a president who was an enemy of traditional Mexican political corruption. Luis Donaldo Colosio with his family. His son has already started a political career. Instagram Doesn't it seem shameful to criticize these men for demanding electoral transparency from Maduro, for asking that the minutes of the process be published, and for the saying that "he who does not owe nothing does not fear nothing"? Has anyone understood that by doing so, the opposition - 80% of the total, it is said - takes the lead in credibility over Maduro's government? How do these leaders of the Latin American left take the fact that an alleged cyber attack from North Macedonia has prevented the publication of the electoral records after the prestigious Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky announced that it did not register attacks on Venezuela during the presidential elections? In passing, Biden banned that company from operating in the United States. Kapersky Botnet Activity Dashboard. Source: Kapersky. Not just Kaspersky: Patricio Ballados, deputy head of the Carter Center mission in Venezuela, told Deutsche Welle  : The electoral authority did not provide evidence of a possible hack; Various portals confirmed that Internet activity was normal on the night of the count; The electoral authority reported that the electoral broadcasts of the process were going to be made through a “dedicated channel”, that is, not open to the public, which meant that an attack via the Internet was practically impossible; Days before the election, this “dedicated channel” was presented to observers as a safeguard and one of the strengths of the system; The delay by the National Electoral Council in publishing the final results is unprecedented in Venezuelan electoral history. This journalist adds: according to the Electoral Transparency organization , as prestigious as the Carter Center, the National Electoral Council declared Nicolás Maduro the winner with only 80% of the votes counted, which is equivalent to more than 2 million pending counting. At that time, the difference between Maduro and Gutiérrez was 704,114 votes. By simple arithmetic, nothing was definitive. What grounds were there for declaring the president the winner? Is it understood that men like Lula, Petro, AMLO, are makers of Friedrich Engels' prophecy, and that therefore they viscerally reject the slightest suspicion of fraud? Add to this the scandalous fake news, such as the clumsy hoax that opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia was or is a CIA agent and participated in crimes in El Salvador. If there is so much talk about “the hand of the CIA,” would the latter have allowed the selection of such a vulnerable man for political purposes? Since when are Langley's bosses imbeciles? Fake CIA ID of Edmundo González Urrutia. Circulating on Cuban social media. González's alleged CIA card has been circulating on social media and, as we know, cheap propaganda vibrates with euphoria. A simple search on Google Lens was enough for this journalist to uncover the hoax. Photo of Edmundo González Urrutia, allegedly used to “create” the fake CIA card.  As early as July 4, “fake hunter” Efecto Cocuyo noted: 1) “Edmundo González Urrutia’s CIA ID is fake and was created using a design template available on the internet since 2016”; 2) “The identification is written in Spanish and presents inconsistencies in the dates, in addition to the inclusion of a QR code, which did not exist in 1980 when it was supposedly issued”; 3) “This card was created with a template that has been circulating on the Internet since 2016, 'with online editing software that uses a base template with the initials MAC-SOG' according to findings by our colleagues at the  Venezuelan Observatory of Fake News   (OVFN)”; 4) “Likewise, the fact checking unit Verificador LR of the Peruvian newspaper La República, noted that the alleged CIA card of the presidential candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) is written in Spanish, and being a North American agency, it should be written in English”; there is also no evidence linking Edmundo González Urrutia with the civil war in El Salvador or the CIA. However, so that no one dares to say that this journalist does not include other views, here is a TeleSur report in which testimonies appear from Salvadorans who accuse Edmundo González of the alleged commission of crimes in El Salvador when he served in that country as a diplomat. What a coincidence! These testimonies appear more than forty years after the crimes and in the middle of the Venezuelan electoral campaign? What did these accusers do to achieve justice and punishment when the left governed El Salvador and was a staunch ally of Chávez? 5) “Although the incorporation date into the CIA is 1980, the identification has a QR code, which is incongruous because QR codes were created in 1994. CIA cards have a duration of 10 years, as evidenced in the comparative image of  Verificador LR .” Bolivia Verifica joined the unmasking of Efecto Cocuyo on July 22, which can be consulted here . The sad thing, and at the same time outrageous for this Cuban journalist : Cubadebate joined the hoax on July 30, and Cubainformación.tv on the 31st. Couldn't a minimal verification be made, or did "The Orientation" prevail, in the ironic words of a colleague of iconic prestige? By the way, cheap propaganda seems to “suffer from amnesia”. Total silence about Edmundo González Urrutia, who was Chavez’s ambassador to Argentina (1998-2002); he played a prominent role in Venezuela’s incorporation into MERCOSUR, and is considered a centrist politician, in favor of dialogue with Maduro if he wins and of a smaller extension of the state sector, but “without touching” the state oil company PDVSA, but rather improving its management and investment policy, to “get it out of the basement”. According to Deutsche Welle, “Current oil production levels in Venezuela are far from the (3.3 million) barrels per day of 1998, as well as from the 2 million barrels per day that Nicolás Maduro promised at the beginning of 2022 that would be reached in December. According to data from OPEC’s October 2022 report, the oil industry in Venezuela, despite high world oil market prices, has only been able to produce 723 thousand barrels per day. Compared to 1998 levels, this amount represents a loss of 78 percent of its production capacity.” Whether you like it or not, the back-and-forth in the Venezuelan electoral contest is a challenge to the credibility of the left in Latin America. I hope he wins.   By  Manuel David Orrio del Rosario NOTE: The author is a retired Cuban state security agent still living in Cuba. * Cover image: Nicolas Maduro, Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gutierrez. France 24. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid08LT2AwrvNrxc9xCVbwufa9r4MQVuSz4FyJsrXMDqqSeGY6JEUz2equBydx4gRSKwl&id=1254699969&sfnsn=mo&mibextid=RUbZ1f  Cuba denounces the irresponsible attempts to resort to violence and destabilization with the aim of producing a coup in Venezuela Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs August 1, 2024  On Sunday, July 28, 2024, the Venezuelan people expressed their will that comrade Nicolás Maduro Moros continue to be their President. They decided in favor of the defense of peace, independence and self-determination of their Homeland. In the face of imperialist harassment, external interference, media and political manipulation and the opportunistic onslaught of the oligarchies and their representatives, the Venezuelan people decided to maintain their majority support for the option founded by Commander Hugo Chávez Frías and which has been sustained in the face of threats and external aggression, under the leadership of President Nicolás Maduro Moros, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its allied parties.   The Bolivarian and Chavista people defeated in recent periods the violence of paramilitary groups fed from abroad that mourned many Venezuelan families, the assassination attempts, the armed incursions of mercenaries and the imposition of a supposed president without any authority or legitimacy whatsoever. It resisted unilateral coercive measures and economic sabotage, among other actions aimed at subverting the constituted internal order. We denounce that, under the pretext of not recognizing the official results of the electoral process, in agreement between international actors and sectors of the internal opposition and in ignorance of the powers of the Venezuelan State, a return to the stage of the use of violence and destabilization is irresponsibly encouraged in order to propitiate a coup against the powers of the State to overthrow the legitimate government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. With that purpose, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) met to analyze the presidential elections in Venezuela, when that organization lacks moral or legal authority to settle matters that only concern Venezuelans. Considering the long history of the OAS in the service of U.S. imperialism, of meddling in the internal affairs of sovereign states in our region, the support and promotion of coups, military dictatorships, repression and torture exercised by governments fully supported by the United States, there is no basis for an internal process such as the elections held in Venezuela to be analyzed there. The double standards with a clear ideological bias of the discredited Secretary General, actively involved in the acts of violence in Venezuela in 2019, in the support of a self-proclaimed president without being elected by the people and in the promotion of the coup d'état in Bolivia in that same year, just to cite the most recent events, would be enough to disqualify the maneuver held today in Washington. In an unusual manner and with no respect for the internal order of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela or any other nation, the United States and some members of the OAS tried to impose in its Permanent Council a resolution urging the Venezuelan electoral authority to recount the votes cast on Sunday, July 28, with the observation of international organizations, a demand that is not made to any country. However, the dignified attitude of a group of countries prevented the approval of the interfering document. A major conflict in Venezuela, as some seem to stimulate in opposition to the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, would have unpredictable and very negative consequences for the entire region. On July 14, 2017, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz warned, "those who seek to overthrow by unconstitutional, violent and coup-like means the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution will assume a serious responsibility before history." We reiterate Cuba's firm support and solidarity with the Bolivarian Government led by comrade Nicolás Maduro Moros and the civil-military union of the heroic Venezuelan people. Havana, July 31, 2024

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Harris and Walz on Cuba

Originally posted four years ago

https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2020/08/joe-biden-and-kamala-harris-on-cuba.html

What Kamala Harris thinks about Cuba On Tuesday, former Vice President Joe Biden announced Senator Kamala Harris, the junior senator from California, will be his running mate, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Last year, Sen. Harris responded to a Tampa Bay Times survey asking questions about Florida-specific issues, including Cuba policy. Asked whether she would continue or end the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, Sen. Harris’ staff responded “Senator Harris believes we should end the failed trade embargo and take a smarter approach that empowers Cuban civil society and the Cuban-American community to spur progress and freely determine their own future.” Shortly after the official announcement, a group of Cuban-American Biden supporters, Cubanos con Biden, reacted positively to Sen. Harris’ nomination. They tweeted that reason number 84 out of 90 that Cubans should vote for Democrats in November is because Sen. Harris is the daughter of immigrants and she is an Afro-Caribbean and Asian-American woman who understands the challenges of the immigrant community in the U.S. Democrats in Florida, a critical swing state. Fernand Amandi, a Democratic strategist and pollster from Miami, stated “Kamala Harris has no baggage with Hispanic voters [in Florida].” Sen. Harris was a co-sponsor of the Freedom for Americans to Travel to Cuba Act which would prohibit U.S. citizens from being restricted from traveling to Cuba in 2017 and most recently in 2019 .

-- Center for Democracy in the Americas, U.S, Cuba News Brief

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On Cuba News has reported statements from the Biden campaign reflecting a more aggressive stance against Trump Administration Cuba policies: “In the midst of a global pandemic in which families are suffering deeply on the island and around the world, President Trump is denying Cuban-Americans the right to help their families,” Florida campaign strategic advisor Christian Ulvert said in a statement. The Democrat recalled that Western Union “is the largest remittance service” in Cuba and that its closing “will be painful for Cuban families, especially the oldest and most vulnerable, both on the island and in the United States.” “Trump’s war on family remittances is a cruel distraction from his administration’s failure to promote democracy in Cuba,” said Ulvert, adding that the “presumed support of the president for the Cuban people is nothing more than empty rhetoric.”.... The Democratic candidate for the U.S. vice presidency, Kamala Harris, assured this Tuesday in an interview with EFE that if she and Biden get to the White House they will repeal the restrictions that Trump has imposed on the island, although the end of the blockade will not happen “soon.” She said that the embargo is law and that an act by of Congress is needed to lift it or that the president determines that a democratically elected government is in power in Cuba, adding that they don’t expect any of these things to happen anytime soon. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba-usa/bidens-campaign-criticizes-blocking-of-remittances-to-cubans/ Translated by Walter Lippmann. This is the section on Cuba of a longer EFE interview with Kamala Harris. Includes link to the full interview. Taken from Iroel Sánchez blog, LA PUPILA INSOMNE. Kamala Harris on Cuba: "The embargo is the law." By EFE Posted by La pupila insomne In a written interview with the Spanish press agency Efe, the senator and vice president for the Democratic Party Kamala Harris answered two questions related to Cuba. Q: What would a future government of yours and that of the Democratic candidate Joe Biden do to reverse the policies that Trump has adopted towards Cuba? Would you personally advocate for an end to the blockade? A: The policy of a Biden and Harris Administration towards Cuba would be governed by two principles: First, Americans, especially Cuban-Americans, are the best ambassadors of freedom in Cuba. Second, empowering the Cuban people to determine their own future is vital to America's national security interests. Trump is deporting hundreds of Cubans back to dictatorship and back to a regime crackdown that has only increased under his presidency. There are nearly 10,000 Cubans languishing in tent camps along the Mexican border due to Trump's anti-immigrant agenda. And it is separating Cuban families through restrictions on family visits and remittances. We will backtrack on Trump's failed policies. And as Joe Biden did previously as vice president, he will also demand the release of political prisoners and will make human rights a centerpiece in the diplomatic relationship. The embargo is the law; you need an act of Congress to lift it or you need the president to determine that a democratically elected government is in power in Cuba. We don't expect any of these things to happen anytime soon. Q: From a US foreign policy perspective, what role do you think Spain can play in relations with Cuba and, in general, with Latin America? A: Under a Biden and Harris Administration, the US will work with members of the international community, including Spain, to support the Cuban people, as well as promote Joe Biden's vision of the need to work for a safe hemisphere, middle class and democratic. ( Read full interview ) ******************************** Philip H. Gordon, her National Security Advisor, is the author of the book Losing the Long Game, a forceful criticism of U.S. regime change policies in other nations. Although this 2020 publication focuses on the Middle East region, it contains several historical references to Cuba, in order to illustrate the ineffectiveness and unforeseeable negative consequences both for the affected nations and for the interests of the United States of the regime change policies. In contrast to them, Gordon argues in favor of the application of policies based on diplomacy, negotiation and constructive engagement. https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba-usa/kamala-harris-and-united-states-cuba-policy-a-hopeful-light/ ****************************** Letter to the President following his withdrawal as candidate https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2024/07/letter-to-president-after-his.html ************************************************* Representative Tim Walz on Cuba Rep. Walz in 2010 voted in favor of a bill passed by the Agriculture Committee to end all Cuba travel restrictions and allow US farmers to sell food to Cuba directly from US banks on credit terms. In 2015 he co-sponsored the Free Trade with Cuba Act, which would have repealed the embargo.   During Obama’s 2016 Cuba visit, Walz affirmed support for opening the Cuban export market. In 2017, Walz urged Trump to reconsider his Cuba policy reversal: “Increased engagement with Cuba by U.S. citizens, companies and the non-governmental sector holds extraordinary promise.”   Walz opposed aspects of Trump’s policy on Cuba,, calling it “shortsighted and misguided.” He focused on opening markets for agricultural trade to benefit both Minnesota farmers and the Cuban people.

Letter to the President After His Withdrawal as Candidate

 

Sent to the White House, cc to Vice President

 

Dear Mr. President,

Thank you for the courage to make an extremely hard decision that will benefit our country, the world and the campaign to save us from Donald Trump.

Thank you also for your endorsement of Vice President Harris as the nominee of the Democratic Party.  I will do everything I can to support her election.

 You and I are the same age so I empathize with the existential difficulty of your choice.

 Your final months in office offer historic opportunities to deal freely with seemingly intractable international problems.  You can strengthen even more your legacy and clear the decks for President Harris to address the real challenges of our time.

 From my viewpoint three priorities are:

 1)  Enhancing the process that will help Ireland become a post-colonized united country.

 2)  Freezing all military aid to Israel until there is peace in Gaza.

 3)  Real reconciliation and full normalization with Cuba. 

 Most immediately that means ending its listing as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, restoring travel (cruises, hotels, independent people to people, performances), resuspending Title III of Helms-Burton and respecting the value of Cuban medical teams to countries in need.

 That can lead quickly to closing the Guantanamo prison and returning the territory in accord with US principles on unequal treaties and bases in foreign countries. 

 A bigger but not impossible lift is employing executive authority to end the universally condemned embargo. 

While establishing preconditions is counterproductive to sovereign sensibilities and plays into the hands of Cuban hardliners, I would expect that progressive changes in US policy will be reflected in due course in Havana by prisoner releases, economic reforms and even political liberalization.

Please also consider meeting the Pope in Cuba for the beatification of Father Felix Varela, advocate of the immigrant Irish in New York.    tinyurl.com/VarelaUS

With regard,

John McAuliff

Fund for Reconciliation and Development

******************

What Kamala Harris Thinks About Cuba

https://cubapeopletopeople.blogspot.com/2024/07/kamala-harris-on-cuba.html