Juan Guaidó needs freedom-loving allies to help confront Venezuela’s deadly dictatorship

Many people ask why interim Venezuelan President Juan Guaidó has not ended Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship.

In January, I accompanied the president to the Anti-terrorism Summit in Colombia. During the conference, President Iván Duque voiced his concern when he said: “Many speculate as to why President Guaidó has not brought an end to the dictatorship. This should not be a discussion about personal skills, his bravery is well known. Facing a bloody dictatorship that knows of no limits is a work of supreme heroism. We all know that the transition towards free elections is our collective duty.”

In Venezuela, we don’t face a classic dictatorship. The Maduro regime has links to international drug trafficking and terrorist organizations. An adequate response to end the dictatorship is critical, not only for the Venezuelan people but for the world as a whole.

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission’s report on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (FFM), commissioned by the United Nations Human Rights Council, brought to light the heightened need for a multilateral approach.

The report, released

Sept. 16, makes clear that there are reasonable grounds to conclude that Maduro, along with his security and defense ministers, ordered or contributed to crimes against humanity — crimes committed on a systemic and massive scale.

The information was provided with the cooperation of active-duty security officials, who anonymously contributed and accused their superiors of these crimes. The dossier urges the International Criminal Court to pursue justice promptly.

Guaidó, the National Assembly and the people of Venezuela have led a heroic battle against the dictatorship. But, in response to the civic demand for freedom and justice, the dictatorship has escalated its repression and criminal violence. Thousands have lost their lives at the hands of the regime. Those who survived were forced to flee Venezuela in search of refuge. The Maduro dictatorship’s goal is crystal clear. Francisco Cox, one of the FFM mission experts, put it plainly: “There is a clear objective to eliminate the opposition.”

There has always been great concern that the unfolding tragedy of the Venezuelan people would be known too little and too late. This need to shed light on our plight led me to leave my country in 2014, when Maduro cowardly and illegally ordered me imprisoned to subject me to a rigged trial for fighting for freedom and democracy. We want to prevent history from repeating itself and not have to hear, in hindsight: “We regret not having acted sooner to stop these crimes in time.” Guaidó has called on member states of the U.N. General Assembly to uphold their responsibility to assist the legitimate government of Venezuela to protect the Venezuelan people. “The time has come for timely and decisive actions,” he said.

The tragedy unfolding in Venezuela cannot be downplayed or ignored. The U.N.’s High Commissioner for Human Rights,

Michelle Bachelet, reported that Maduro’s forces extra-judicially killed 6,856 innocent people between 2018 and May 2019. Between January and August 2020, 2,000 Venezuelans were killed. Moreover, the dictatorship tortured, imprisoned or killed peaceful civilians and their families who were critical of the dictatorship. The torture included suffocation with plastic bags, waterboarding, beatings, electric shocks, long periods of isolation and the deprivation of water and food, along with rape and death threats. The likelihood that anyone of the 334 remaining political prisoners could be enduring these tortures now is real.

The horror is best documented with the assassination of Capt. Acosta Arevalo, who died of his injuries moments after appearing before a judge. Acosta had 38 grave wounds to his body, including a broken nasal septum and abrasions on his shoulders, elbows and knees. His injuries were so severe that forensic analysts compared them to those of an earthquake victim crushed by a collapsing building.

Unfortunately, diplomacy does not move at the speed needed by the Venezuelan people. They urgently need the decisive support of the international community to protect millions of innocent lives at risk from the most brutal dictatorship in Latin America’s history. We are confident that the countries in our region, in Europe, as well as regional and international organizations, can do much more to help us regain respect for human rights, the rule of law, freedom and democracy.

Protecting the life and liberty of the Venezuelan people and bringing an end to the Maduro dictatorship is a shared moral obligation.