Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist María Alejandra Díaz has become a symbol of why, as she puts it, the rule of law in Venezuela is “in frank deterioration” after the July 28 presidential elections.
Given lingering doubts over who won — the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner, but the right-wing opposition claims it has evidence indicating otherwise — many want the results published to verify who won and prove beyond doubt the legitimacy of any incoming government. That is why, on November 4, Díaz filed a legal recourse before the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice ( https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/venezuela-court-rejects-appeal-left-wing-opposition-publish-presidential-election-results ) (TSJ), requesting that the court ask the CNE to comply with its legal obligation and a TSJ Electoral Chamber ruling issued on August 22 (which ratified Maduro’s victory) by publishing the results. Instead, the TSJ declared the appeal inadmissible and fined Díaz, suspended her from professional duties and threatened her with possible arrest. The recourse was filed on behalf of the Frente Popular Democrático (Popular Democratic Front, FDP), which includes left-wing parties and organisations such as the Bloque Histórico Popular (Popular Historic Bloc), the Partido Comunista de Venezuela ( https://links.org.au/venezuelan-communist-neirlay-andrade-authoritarian-regime-never-better-option ) (Communist Party of Venezuela), La Otra Campaña (The Other Campaign), Voces Antiimperialistas (Anti-imperialist Voices), Movimiento Popular Alternativo (Popular Alternative Movement), En Común (In Common), and the Frente Nacional de Lucha de la Clase Trabajadora (National Front for Working Class Struggle), as well as moderate opposition parties such as Centrados en la Gente (Focused on the People), among others. Speaking about her case with Federico Fuentes for LINKS International Journal of Socialist Renewal ( https://links.org.au/ ) , Díaz explained: “This is the first time in Venezuela’s history that a lawyer has been suspended from practising their profession, with no regard for the presumption of innocence, no prior trial and no right to a defence.” Despite this, Díaz continues to demand that the results be published because “it is our right” and the way to defend “the Venezuelan electoral system, which had been transparent and clean, but is now tainted”. Díaz also spoke about the situation facing what she terms “prisoners for protesting or demanding political or labour rights”, highlighting the fact that while close to 2000 such prisoners continue to be denied their basic rights (a few days after this interview was completed, 225 of these prisoners were released on November 17), there are right-wing parliamentarians “sitting in the National Assembly who have called for an invasion, for sanctions and for Maduro to be killed” but have never faced justice. All this leaves leftists such as Díaz in the position of “demanding justice while caught between two warring parties, and asking both sides to respect the rule of law and the Constitution.” But the risk of “a head-on collision” between the government and right-wing opposition is only increasing ahead of inauguration day, January 10, something she believes “could end very badly.” Faced with this, Díaz says there is no alternative but to “continue fighting and seeking spaces to advance our struggle” while insisting on “defending transparency, popular sovereignty and the Constitution.” Read the full interview at https://links.org.au/maria-alejandra-diaz-popular-democratic-front-institutional-avenues-resolving-venezuelas-political -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#33645): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/33645 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/109641952/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/13617172/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
