The six Venezuelan opposition members persecuted by Chavismo have spent 100 days in the Argentine embassy

Six opposition political leaders have already spent 100 days in exile in the Argentine embassy in Caracas, accused of terrorism, criminal association and treason. Five of them were members of the campaign command of Edmundo González Urrutia, the opposition consensus candidate anointed by María Corina Machado who threatens the continuity of Chavismo in power after 25 years of what is known as the Bolivarian revolution, the political movement conceived by Hugo Chávez. And they were not just anyone within the command: in fact, it was the entire political team, the brains of the campaign.

They are Magalli Meda, the head of that block; Claudia Macero, national communications officer; Pedro Urruchurtu, coordinator of international relations; Omar González, campaign manager for the state of Anzoátegui; and Humberto Villalobos, head of electoral logistics. Jorge Rodríguez, president of the Assembly of Venezuela and leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, recently accused them (in particular Meda and Villalobos) of orchestrating violent acts from the embassy for election day, this coming July 28, presumably, according to what he said, organizing motorcyclists to besiege urban spaces “where the right votes.” That modus operandi, In fact, it has become a classic in Chavista procedures when there is political tension in the country.

All of these people are members of the national leadership of the Vente Venezuela party and direct collaborators of Machado, founder of the organization and leader of the Venezuelan opposition. In this same attack that led these politicians to ask for diplomatic asylum, Henri Alviarez, national coordinator of the organization, and Dinora Hernández, national political secretary of Vente Venezuela, were arrested in the street and are now in prison.

Some of these leaders had already been temporarily sheltered in the Dutch embassy on similar charges, shortly after the end of the primary elections organised by the opposition on 22 October, which were politically successful and were immediately rejected by the revolutionary legal system.

At some point, in the framework of negotiations with international mediation, the Chavistas withdrew from the procedure. In terms of repression, things have seriously deteriorated since January in Venezuela. Together with them, also accused by the Prosecutor’s Office, is in the Argentine embassy Fernando Martínez Mottola, a politician without party affiliation who does not belong to the Comando con Venezuela, but is a key leader of the Unitary Platform in organizational matters and the creation of agreements between tendencies.

Recently, Martínez Mottola has worked actively, alongside opposition and Chavista delegations, in the organization and terms of the political dialogue sponsored by the Government of Norway. After having a paper ready to sign a measure of clemency, the Government of Nicolás Maduro has flatly denied them safe conduct. Amidst enormous personal uncertainty, in some cases with relatives living outside Caracas, the administration of Javier Milei treats them as guests.

They say they learned of their situation on television, after the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, held them responsible last March for being part of a conspiracy to overthrow the government, generate violence in the country and attempt on Maduro’s life. While this was happening to them, some time later, regional coordinators of Vente Venezuela in the states of Vargas, Trujillo, Barinas and Yaracuy have also been accused of similar crimes and immediately taken to prison. In total, 46 opposition politicians and activists, some of them without party affiliation, have been taken to prison since the end of last year.

Inside the embassy, ​​these leaders are immersed in their political responsibilities, amidst significant limitations in terms of public services. Disrupting routine without invading other people’s spaces is, they say, one of the fundamental challenges of a demanding personal moment. Their lawyers were not clear, at first, about the terms of the accusation, which ended up being the same as those made to almost all opposition leaders: incitement to hatred, treason and criminal association. Also, terrorism and money laundering.

The decision to grant these politicians safe conduct had been made, according to the defense, but it included a clause establishing that none of them could engage in political activism in exile, and they were obliged to collaborate with the Venezuelan justice system, which they did not want to comply with.

The Venezuelan electoral campaign is taking place without any serious incidents in terms of violence, but in the midst of a very asymmetric environment for the promotion of messages, the availability of public spaces, resources, and the use of the law, all of which are largely favorable to Maduro, the president-candidate, who comfortably controls the levers of power in the country, holds political rallies at military events, and was able to present, placidly, the members of his campaign command in a television broadcast.

The opposition campaign, which is almost non-existent in terms of electoral promotion, has no presence in the media, no posters, stickers, or street paintings, but relies on an intense promotion of tours through towns and medium-sized cities that Machado is carrying out together with González Urrutia, with a clear veto on the capital. Videos of their rallies on social networks are going viral very quickly. According to what is reported by at least four of the most recognized polling firms in the country, González Urrutia has a clear advantage over Maduro in voting intention, averaging 50% compared to his rival’s 26%.

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