What has happened in Venezuela over the past 14 years has been a usurping of all democratic institutions and practices through majority rule (both real and illegally procured). It is a remarkable thing to have turned democracy on its head by using the institutions of democracy (legislatures, judiciary, media). It is also remarkable that so many people have so willingly embraced a veneered, rather than a substantive, democracy and an arbitrary rule “by” law rather than the rule “of” law in Venezuela. The reality has become apparent (unfortunately not readily enough) for many of those who obtained benefits at the expense of their fellow citizens. For those adherents not living in Venezuela, or being affected by the arbitrariness of the paramilitary regime, I wonder whether they will remain some of the regime’s most ardent defenders.

The electoral system as controlled by the current Government is neither free nor fair. Rather, it is intended to maintain an authoritarian status quo. It constitutes nothing more than a false sheen of democratic practice and an insulting masquerade for a decidedly authoritarian regime.