The granting of house arrest to First Justice Party deputy Juan Requesens on August 28 and the release via pardon of 110 opponents on August 31 are part of a plan that seeks to maintain the de facto presidency of Nicolas Maduro. It began with the communiqué of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference (CVE in Spanish) on the 11th of August, which changed the center of gravity of the political struggle of Chávez’s heir’s illegitimacy and his parliamentary election on December 6, pointing out the absence of a roadmap after the legislative elections by the interim government.

Until now, the interim presidency strategy to challenge the legitimacy of the legislative vote called by the Maduro regime has been accompanied by the international community. The same happened with the presidential election of 2018. Only the minority parties, known as “the little table”, participated in this illegitimate electoral process. The result was the recognition of 60 democratic countries of the President of the National Assembly as the interim President of Venezuela since January 2019, when the Maduro presidential term ended (2013-2019).

The European Union, in a communiqué published on August 11, stated that the parliamentary electoral process called by Maduro did not comply with the electoral conditions—transparent, inclusive, free, and fair—outlined in the Venezuelan Constitution.

However, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has been increasing the policy of maximum pressure toward the Bolivarian regime. Consequently, the fall to minimum levels of income from oil exports has generated a crisis in the maintenance of Venezuelan power structures. This has led Maduro to depend on the revenue resulting from illicit activities, revealing the true face of the dictatorship: a criminal network with international partners.

Furthermore, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has accused, since 2019, an official strategy “aimed at neutralizing, repressing and criminalizing political opposition and those who criticize the regime”, according to the UN Human Rights report on Venezuela. In July of this year, she pointed out that the recent decisions of the Maduro Supreme Court of Justice regarding the new Electoral Power and the main opposition parties “diminish the possibility of building conditions for credible and democratic electoral processes” in Venezuela, reported enpolitica.info.

Given these realities and the imminent extradition of Maduro’s alleged frontman, Alex Saab, from Cape Verde to the United States for the crime of money laundering, the criminal corporation’s international partners are seeking to legitimize Maduro at all costs with the female parliamentarians. His departure from power would leave Cuba in a more difficult situation than when the Soviet Union fell. It would also put the criminal corporation at risk of implosion with the judicial implications for its leaders.

Therefore, on August 12—one day after the CEV’s communiqué—Pope Francis met with Ms.Bachelet to discuss her point of view regarding the requirements to endorse a supposed transition in Venezuela with Maduro in power. On Monday, August 31, 2020, the result was known with the 110 opposition members (prisoners, embassy asylums, and exiles) being “pardoned”. It seems that the minimum condition for the High Commissioner to contribute to “an inclusive political negotiation based on human rights and the restitution of political rights” was the release of people detained for dissenting with the Chavista policies, which have socio-economically destroyed the nation.

From June —the appointment of the new rectors of the National Electoral Council and the convocation of the parliamentary elections— until August 11 (CEV’s communiqué), the dominant narrative was the rejection of the Chavista National Electoral Council and the parliamentary polls by the Organization of American States, the United States, the Lima Group, and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the European Community. All of whom recognized the interim government of Guaidó.

Since the CEV’s communiqué, the narrative is to participate in the parliamentary elections and the unity of the parties that support the interim government. It has changed from Maduro’s illegitimacy to the lack of agreement and a democratic force route after December 6.

Consequently, the main facilitators of Cuba’s proposals are at the international level, with the Vatican, Michelle Bachelet, Josep Borrell, the government of Pedro Sánchez, and the Puebla Group, and at the national level, with the CEV and Henrique Capriles.

Hence, the Vatican puts the interim government in check.

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