Dear Editor,
The protests and state sponsored violence against protesters for respecting the will of voters in Venezuela (that voted last July 28) brings back memories of responses to similar protests in Guyana and America during the struggles for free and fair elections in Guyana. The government in Guyana responded with harassment, intimidation, and brute force, as has been occurring in and Venezuela, including killing of polling agents and opposition figures, against those who opposed electoral fraud in 1968 and all elections thereafter until the restoration of democratic elections in October 1992.
The July 28 Venezuela election disputed result is in court. The verdict on the disputed election count in Venezuela will favour the ruling party as its appointees and members stacked the court. The court never ruled against Maduro in previous challenges and will not do so now. Already, the court ruled that Maduro’s challenger Edmundo Gonzalez is in contempt of court after refusing to answer a summons to attend a certification of the July 28 election results. This makes any possibility of a successful challenge to the official result that Maduro won virtually nil.
Venezuelans should continue to mount a peaceful challenge to electoral fraud and demand that the will of the voters be respected. A people’s right to protest is inviolable and be respected as in America, the greatest democracy.
Sincerely,
Vishnu Bisram