Venezuelans Deserve Fair Elections and Religious Freedom

VOC’s President and CEO, Dr. Eric Patterson, co-authored an op-ed with former governor and U.S. senator from Kansas Sam Brownback, on the plight of the Venezuelan people as they strive to restore democracy in their country. 

As the authors write, “when Venezuelans head to the polls on Sunday to vote for their next president, this election will be marked by corruption, intimidation and violence, just as other elections in the South American nation have been for the last 20 years.

Even though President Nicolás Maduro, who has been in office since 2013, and opponent Edmundo González Urrutia are neck and neck based on recent polls, few expect this election to be a truly competitive one. The Maduro regime has already barred nearly all opposition candidates from the national ballot for the presidency, weighing the scales in favor of the incumbent. That being said, one real opposition candidate is being allowed on the ballot, so it will be interesting to see what plays out.

In addition to political oppression, it is important to call out the government’s bullying and coercion of religious people and institutions. Rhetoric against and attacks by the current regime on religious institutions, including Catholic priests, Jewish leaders and other religious officials, have been documented in U.S. Department of State reports on international religious freedom.

Venezuela once had the most promising and stable democracy in Latin America. With its abundant natural resources and oil wealth, it could have become a prosperous and developing society. Indeed, for many years, Venezuela was one of the top five oil exporting countries to the United States, with a rich tradition of political freedom and market capitalism. A generation ago, the nation had some of the best social indicators for people moving out of poverty in Latin America.

Read the full article in US News.

Dr. Eric Patterson is President and CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

Sam Brownback is a former governor and U.S. senator from Kansas, and past Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom with the U.S. Department of State. All opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the position or views of the institutions they represent or VOC.