In Venezuela’s diaspora, protests erupt against Maduro’s contested election

By harnessing their political power, members of the Venezuelan diaspora, like Arellano, are hoping to make a difference from their host countries in Latin America, where a majority of the diaspora is settled.

Heads of state in the region are spearheading negotiations with the Maduro government.

Colombia and Brazil, allies of the Maduro government, have taken the lead in trying to find solutions to the electoral dispute. They have not recognised either Maduro or Gonzalez as the winner of the elections and instead have called on the government to release paper ballots.

“Whatever the will of the Venezuelan people, Colombia will respect it,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro told the newspaper Le Monde. “This is a delicate moment, and all parties must be prepared to manage it peacefully.”

In their role as mediators, the leaders of those two countries also pitched their own proposals for a resolution that addressed concerns on both sides.

On August 15, for example, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva proposed holding new elections in Venezuela.

On the same day, President Petro floated the idea of alternating power between the Maduro government and the opposition.

But both ideas were quickly rebuffed by opposition members inside and outside of Venezuela.

The two countries also reacted with a joint statement last week when Venezuela’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of Maduro’s claims to victory, without offering proof to support it.

Colombia and Brazil reiterated their call for the Maduro government to release the voting tallies — but they also demanded an end to international sanctions against Venezuela, a source of pressure on its fragile economy.

Meanwhile, the governments of Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay and Panama have recognized Gonzalez as the newly elected president of Venezuela — a stance advocates in the diaspora hope more world leaders will adopt in the lead-up to the January inauguration.

In legislatures in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile and other Latin American countries, Venezuelan activists — many of whom are political leaders in exile — are also sitting down with their fellow lawmakers in hopes of shaping policy.

“If we’re democrats, then democracy must stand above our political alliances and ideological visions,” said William Clavija, a 34-year-old migrant and president of Venezuela Global, a Brazil-based humanitarian organisation that has advocated for election transparency.