Español
English
In order to commemorate this July 5th, 209 years of Venezuela’s independence, the democratic forces and deputies of the National Assembly addressed all the Venezuelan people through the Zoom platform, to highlight the importance of this date that marks the beginning of Venezuelan democracy, which today more than ever is threatened by the regime that holds power hostage, regardless of the damage it has caused to the nation.
In this sense, Juan Pablo Guanipa, first Vice President of the National Assembly, in his turn to speak, said that “today we celebrate our independence. The act that seals our separation from the Spanish empire was born from the pen of Juan German Roscio and Francisco Isnardi, two civil heroes who knew how to give letter to our desires for freedom and immortalize our republican principles, those that today are being violated and we are called to recover”.
Guanipa recalled that “Roscio left us, in his written word and in his action, the republican values that mark a path of resistance and reaffirm the meaning of our efforts. Each Venezuelan is unique and unrepeatable and his dignity must be respected by all. Equality is a fundamental principle that we are called to recover, without divisions or injustices that affect democracy and peace.”
The parliamentarian indicated that values must be maintained more intact than ever to fight corruption, which is intended to signify the country’s future. “Honesty and probity, moral rectitude, are the only true antidote to corruption and looting. These values are an itinerary to make freedom triumph over despotism and, for Roscio, to unite our forces for the restoration of the high dignity of our oppressed fellow men”.
Guanipa affirmed that Venezuela is living very hard times and that the dictatorship exercises power away from justice.
“They kidnap the people’s sovereignty, they steal our resources, they take up arms against those who suffer most, they hand the country over to foreign forces: Cuba, Russia, Iran, they try to take away our vocation for freedom. Can there be a more perverse regime?” he asked.
The leader said that the serious crisis of institutions, of rule of law, of separation of powers that is lived day by day and seriously affects society. “If a country does not have rules, it has no chance of succeeding. We, the leaders, must dedicate all the effort that is possible to explain, to remember, to communicate everything that this dictatorship has done to try to end Venezuelan society”.
“This dictatorial regime has outlawed the constitution and voting. Maduro is so cowardly that he pretends to play a game in which he controls both teams and the referee. To that end, it has prevented the National Assembly from exercising its functions, which is the only power that has the authority to elect the members of the National Electoral Council. It has disqualified the political leaders. It has banned the parties and intends to direct them through scoundrels whom it has shamelessly bought. Itt has unilaterally changed the rules for selecting and awarding representatives. And he has done all this through a supreme court of justice, in small letters, that has the original sin of its spurious designation and that has in the conscience of its members the unworthiness of its decisions. Gentlemen of this infamous court: you have prostituted the most important of the public authorities, the one that should put things in order, the one of balance. You do not deserve to be lawyers or to be called judges,” he added.
He concluded by confirming that we will not falter until we achieve freedom and that we will continue to fight for the rescue of democracy in Venezuela.
“We Venezuelans want to vote freely, we demand that our right to choose be respected. We are going to intensify internal pressure so that the conditions are in place to elect a new President of the Republic and a new National Assembly. The CNE should be appointed solely and exclusively by the National Assembly and its representatives in states, municipalities, parishes and voting centers should be appointed by consensus. The rules of the election can only be designed, by law, by the National Assembly and cannot be modified in the six months prior to the election. Political parties must be legalized and led by their natural leaders. All Venezuelans, wherever they are, must be guaranteed the right to vote, directly and in secret. The electoral campaign should be on equal terms and everyone should have access to the media and free transit. The members of the National Armed Force have the responsibility to safeguard the process, not to interfere in it in a biased way,” he stressed.
“It is time for the new heroes of this Venezuela of the 21st century. It is time to achieve our second independence. For the first one we had Bolivar, Miranda, Urdaneta, Paez, Sucre, Roscio and many others. To achieve our democratic approach we have Betancourt, Caldera, Villalba and others. They gave birth to the Punto Fijo Pact, which is the most successful governance agreement in our entire Republican history,” he concluded.
