https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/12/venezuela-opposition-leaders-wrap-up-popular-consultation
In Venezuela the National Assembly elections were recently held, and President Nicolas Maduro gained power in the final branch, which he was previously lacking. Many Venezuelans oppose this, and have been referring to the election as fraudulent. Venezuela’s opposition then held a popular consolation vote in order to combat this, which lasted almost 6 days. Out of almost 30 million people living in Venezuela, 6.5 million participated in the consolation vote, which asked them whether they accepted the results of the election and if they wanted a change in government. Opposers to the election claim it was fraudulently rigged to favor Maduro, who claims the consolation vote holds no legal value. The vote was also supposed to represent a cry out to the international community and to organizations such as the European Union. Citizens in Venezuela have taken to the streets to protest for their right to democracy and justice.
While a majority of Venezuelans don’t support President Maduro, they remain in opposition of his removal by foreign powers. This puts the country in a tricky position, as seen by this article. Opposition in Venezuela has been putting forth great effort to remove Maduro from office, as shown through the consolation vote, however many citizens didn’t participate and no action has yet to be taken following the vote. The opposition did accomplish one of their goals: raising awareness. However, we still don’t know exactly how this will play out. Many countries, like the United States under President Trump, oppose Maduro’s regime, yet as Trump’s administration draws to a close they have failed to remove Maduro from office. It will be interesting to see how International Organizations react in the coming days/months and if action is taken, specifically by the European Union and the International Contact Group, as they don’t consider the recent election to be legitimate both by Venezuelan and international law.
This issue can be related to class through IGOs/NGOs and by looking at it from a realist perspective. The choice of groups such as the EU and ICG to get involved in the situation in Venezuela will partially relate to if it benefits them. Additionally, the ICG is unlikely to get involved, as it’s a smaller scale organization and doesn’t hold as much power. When looking at this issue from a realist perspective, it is unlikely that foreign powers will get involved, especially now with the pandemic, as they’re more focused on their issues at home instead of the Venezuelans suffering. This demonstrates how human nature is inherently selfish, and how actors choose to ignore suffering when it inconveniences them.