Julio Borges said, in an interview with The Morning while he is exiled in Colombia, that within Primero Justicia (PJ) “there is a fight to prevent Maduro from taking over the party through the manipulation of personal agendas.” And he warned “Those who are thinking about regional and parliamentary elections, without managing to materialize the triumph of July 28 (28-J), are divorced from the heart of the Venezuelan people.”
Henrique Capriles accuses a group of PJ made up of: Paola Bautista de Alemán, Juan Miguel Matheus, María Beatriz Martínez, Juan Pablo Guanipa, Carlos Ocariz, Juan Carlos Caldera and himself of very sensitive issues, such as passing information to the regime, not being accountable or not believing in elections. What do you have to say about these very serious accusations?
The truth is that public opinion and everyone in PJ is surprised by the statements that have been made. They are contradictory. The most serious and deepest accusation is that, unusually, they accuse us of being faggots and Edmundists; and that’s where I think the root of the problem is.
The reality is that for more than a year, there have been two fundamental visions within PJ that contrast enormously: while some of us supported the need to hold primaries, the need to seek a unified candidacy, to run a campaign with total dedication and now defend 28J with full force, in contrast, there is this other vision of the person making the accusations, who did everything possible within PJ so that there were no primaries, he did everything possible so that the candidate was Manuel Rosales, they did not accompany to María Corina in the campaign and that, after 28J, they are incredibly anxious to try to turn the page on that heroic deed. Regarding these two visions that I am explaining to you, there are abundant statements and interviews that make their negative and erratic position very clear throughout these months.
Signs
But regarding specific accusations towards you such as not rendering administrative accounts or accusing you of always conspiring with the military, what do you have to say?
Regarding all the absurd accusations, we ask that, in the next National Political Committee of PJ, which brings together nearly 300 local, regional and national leaders, the false accusations that seek to artificially create a crisis be thoroughly debated, one by one. inside PJ.
In my case, for example, the issue of accountability: more than 2 years ago I left the coordination of Primero Justicia. I do not manage anything, I delivered a party with zero debts and a savings fund for its maintenance. I make a daily effort to raise funds to support my areas of responsibility: communications, strategy and international without being a burden on my party’s budget.
Regarding conspiring, I am worried that he will use the same accusations that the dictatorship uses against the leaders, against the journalists, against those who stop at a checkpoint, against those who check his phone, against 1,800 Venezuelans who are, unjustly, imprisoned to the day of today. For them, we are all conspirators.
I am greatly impressed by how these accusations blend into the regime’s narrative: the same accusations without evidence, the same viciousness, the same resentment and, furthermore, in a public manner. Venezuela does not deserve that our leaders copy the ways of the dictatorship.
Untimely differences
In public opinion they wonder, why are these differences coming to light right at this moment? Aren’t we doing a disservice to democratic unity by airing these things to the populace?
As Juan Pablo Guanipa expressed it in his letter to PJ and also because of the way in which public opinion has reacted at this moment, there is total confusion as to why in the midst of a triumph as great as 28J and in the face of massive violations of human rights with thousands detained and children kidnapped, there are people who have the folly to make false accusations to create an internal crisis in PJ.
The only reasons we see are three: first, an absurd rivalry and a non-recognition of María Corina Machado, who was never supported in the campaign, nor promoted her actions and was even cut from photos on the networks; Secondly, they want to send a message to the demarcation dictatorship with the fight to enforce 28J and begin to normalize and fall into the usual blackmail. Thirdly, the possibility of earning merit so that the dictatorship gives the First Justice card to those who comply with the regime’s agenda.
Everything seems so absurd to us that this is the only explanation we can find for why a small group can act in such a contradictory way.
For the government, the disqualifications have not been enough, the illegalization has not been enough, the persecution of our leaders has not been enough, the theft of our political party cards has not been enough. Now, he wants to get in and manage our agendas. What I want to alert public opinion to is that this movement of co-opting Primero Justicia by the dictatorship is a highway to subjugate the entire opposition. It is not an internal issue, it is against the entire unit and its organizations. In the end the regime wants to divide the opposition between those who recognize Maduro and coexist with them and those who do not, who should be excluded from participating in politics.
Reaction to the accusations
How has this issue of accusations been received within Primero Justicia?
Today 40 vigilante leaders are in jail. In Primero Justicia the reception of all these attacks has been received with the same negative reaction as public opinion, no one understands it and it also hurts us vigilantes. Because it is not the moment, it is not the way and it is not the means. We have had very long meetings to ratify 28J, the leadership of María Corina Machado and Edmundo González; and from those discussions arise the concerns I mentioned above. Deep down, in Primero Justicia there is a fight to prevent Nicolás Maduro from hijacking the party. As María Corina Machado recently said, the country will not forgive those who do not fight from each of their positions.
More questions
Is this agenda of these leaders that you point out linked to participation in regional elections in 2025?
The second most important mayor in the country is Rafael Ramírez, a man dedicated to management, and the dictatorship’s response is to put him in jail along with his team and start fabricating accusations of financing the presidential campaign of María Corina and Edmundo. At the same time, Jorge Rodríguez begins a process to transform the electoral and political party laws into a Cuban photocopy, when thousands of people and young people have their human rights violated.
Under these circumstances, those who are thinking about regional and parliamentary elections, without managing to materialize the victory of 28J, are divorced from the heart of the Venezuelan people. Part of the debate in Primero Justicia is between those of us who are fighting to defend the feeling of rage of a people who feel robbed and want to materialize July 28 and those who have their sights set elsewhere, from a totally personalistic and accommodating position.
You are accused of not believing in negotiation, in elections and of having extremist positions. In all this chaos that exists in the country, is it not valid for some leaders to propose a more concrete negotiating position with the regime?
Everyone, starting with María Corina and Edmundo González, has said that a negotiation is valid. The difference is that any negotiation must be to achieve the victory of 28J in peace and with guarantees for all. But repeating again what has happened in the past, that some leaders initiate partial and unilateral talks, is unacceptable. The 28J was achieved because we closed ourselves under two very clear flags: unity and vote. Therefore, we have to ensure that any negotiation process honors what was achieved in the presidential elections.
Door strategy
What is the strategy that you propose in PJ and the unitary platform to materialize the change on January 10, 2025?
We believe that an internal movement must be strengthened to fight so that the truth of what happened on June 28 is imposed. Likewise, we have to continue building with Edmundo and María Corina an international coalition for the recognition of this historic triumph and to put greater pressure on the dictatorship with the aim of breaking it down between now and January and thus beginning a orderly transition process.
Therefore, I want to reiterate that the differences in Primero Justicia are not in terms of strategy, but in terms of agendas. There are people who are putting their personal interests above the national interest. And we are fighting so that, through this agenda that they want to impose, the dictatorship does not control our party.
Our job is to grow and strengthen the energy that made the triumph of July 28 possible. That strength is there, we are not going to let it down. We are convinced that the Venezuelan people, the true heroes, will be honored with freedom, progress and justice.
Puerto La Cruz / El Tiempo Editorial Team
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