For Andrés Caleca, former director of the National Electoral Council (CNE), the vote is a powerful tool that Venezuelans must use to remove Nicolás Maduro’s regime. But he said that it is not just voting, but also society as a whole has to be prepared to defend the electoral victory.
By La Patilla
Nov 13, 2022
He indicated that it is essential to think about the immediate future and build as soon as possible the democratic alternative that gives hope and brings change to Venezuelans. “We don’t have to defend the previous democracy, but re-found the one we want. The political party does not matter, the survival of the country matters,” he stated.
Mr. Caleca spoke with La Patilla during a visit to Puerto Ordaz, in Ciudad Guayana, a region of which he feels a part because he was once President of “Ferrominera Orinoco” (Orinoco Iron Mining Company), a state-owned iron mining and processing company based in southern Venezuela.
“For the task of building the alternative we are late. The reason I started visiting the country is out of desperation. If we don’t talk to people, they won’t realize that there is no time. And if the parties do not start, then the local leaders have to demand it, and the organized civil society has to demand it. This is everyone’s task,” he said.
To evict Maduro, in Caleca’s opinion, citizens have to press for the electoral registry to be reopened, and during this process, the democratic opposition must assume the task of organizing, training and mobilizing.
“Registration is fundamental, because half of the population would not be able to vote if the elections were tomorrow. This cannot be accepted. You have to go out on the streets to demand this but, in addition, we have to prepare the electoral (voting center) witnesses from now on, we have to set up schools for witnesses in each state of the country. We have to cover the 40,000 tables, because otherwise the elections will be stolen from us,” he pointed out.
The leader said that it is urgent to show the people that the future of Venezuela is built through democracy. That there is no other formula, he added.
“Elections must be won and defended, and (we must be) prepared to govern; and this can only be achieved with a great national unity. Beyond the democratic parties, we must unite the political parties with the rest of the country: unions, professional and teachers’ unions, cultural sector, youth. The entire country must be united to defeat barbarism and lead us into the 21st century, because these people (Maduro’s regime) are taking us back into the early 20th century.”
He said that Venezuela’s economic and social indicators show so much backwardness that the current situation is similar to that of the Gomez era. “Imagine that right now there is again typhoid fever, something that was eradicated years ago,” he said.
Election Witnesses
Mr. Caleca mentioned that, so far, no fraud has been proven in the machines or in data transmission. He added that the absence of electoral witnesses is an aspect that the opposition should look at carefully. Therein lies the fraud, he said.
“Where the fraud occurs is precisely at the tables that are devoid of opposition witnesses. Thousands of process audits have shown that the scrutiny and transmission of data is correct. The problem is when the table is left alone, once there are no more voters. At that moment they begin to vote fraudulently and manually for those who did not go to vote. We cannot allow that,” he pointed out.
According to the leader’s calculations, at the tables set up by the CNE (National Electoral Council) for the presidential election there must be at least one witness and two substitutes coming from the opposition. “That is, about 160,000 people that must be organized, trained and supported, because we cannot leave them alone at the tables,” he declared.
He stated that the organized community should be around the centers, protecting witnesses and alert to protest any outrage. “Because this government only understands the language of protest,” he detailed.
– You have said that in political processes tactical actions can vary, but never the strategy. What is the strategy that the opposition must maintain to win?
– The strategy is electoral and peaceful. That is the strategy of the Democrats, we do not have weapons. On the other hand, nobody is going to come from abroad to save Venezuela. We have the possibility of building a political majority capable of defeating Maduro, with the 80% of Venezuelans who reject him.
What weapon do we have? The vote. A formidable weapon of the people. If we get six or eight million votes for a unitary candidate, there is no bayonet to stop us, as happened in Barinas. You can have the all military you want, but in the face of an avalanche of votes, there is no repressive power that can stop us.”
– And after winning the election, how does the country recover?
– Very difficult. We must speak clearly to the country. The next government will be able to tackle maybe five or six things at once, and no more. The first: to recover the productive apparatus and the financial system, because the only way to get out of poverty is to work. On the other hand, health and education, because people die wasting in hospitals. In addition, he must also remain in power during the planned period and hand over power peacefully, already with an economically healthy country.
It is also important to carry out a reform of the judiciary , recover the majesty of the Judiciary and the National Assembly. More than that cannot be done.
– You know the industry of Guayana behind closed doors. How do you see basic companies in the face of a change of government?
– Venezuela does not have the capital to deal with this issue. These companies were dismantled, some even scrapped. Entire areas sold as scrap. We have an abandoned industrial park, and some of those businesses are no longer profitable or viable today, because they were conceived in the middle of the 20th century.
I think we have to review the entire Guiana complex and make it fit for the 21st century. We still have the potential. However, what are we going to do with Edelca (National Electricity Corporation)? Because if you don’t save Edelca, the country doesn’t advance.
– The recovery of the electrical system is key.
– That’s how it is. If you turn on Sidor, Venalum and Alcasa, Venezuela will be left without electricity. So those are the things that a new government will have to deal with. Will money come from abroad? I think so, because a democratic government with broad popular support could obtain financing from all multilateral organizations and capital investment. Of course, a disaster situation will have to be declared, because this really is a disaster, as if there had been an earthquake.
– So, winning the election is the first step, but it is not enough.
– It is not sufficient. In fact, that is the least difficult step and this might seem unbelievable. Right now what we see as most difficult is how we beat these guys, but the most difficult thing comes later, to see how we govern and with what social support.
– The military sector has a lot of power now. What should a new government do?
– With the military, we’ll see. As Luis Herrera Campins said: the military are loyal until they rise up, we’ll see. As long as we win the elections, with a large majority of the country with a different vision, the military will change.
– And what to do with the gangs and organized crime, which is another factor that rules in Venezuela?
– You have to sweep them. No negotiation is possible.
– How do you assess the interventions that the regime has recently made in the Mining Arc?
– I wish they did this every day, but I’m afraid that’s just a mafia problem. They take money from each other and that’s it. But intervening and getting them out is what they have to do. Expel the 12 criminal gangs that control the western border of the country. There used to be four, but there are already 12, there is even the Sinaloa Cartel. Towards the northeast of the country, to the beaches, you can no longer go because it is in the hands of drug traffickers. Well, the answer is lead (bullets), without question. There is nothing to negotiate.
– Finally, how do you see the announcement of the electoral commission of the primaries?
Very good. I like the people who are there. I’m happy with it, although it was a bit late I think. But the people who were named deserve our trust.
The former rector of the CNE and former president of Ferrominera Orinoco, Andrés Caleca, participated in two events in Bolívar State: a discussion at the College of Engineers of Puerto Ordaz and another meeting at the Andrés Bello Catholic University (UCAB). He informed that he will continue his tour to promote the vote and the democratic strategy in Los Altos Mirandinos and Caracas.
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