With far more than 80 political parties, of which 90% are opponents of the Revolution, 14,400 male and female candidates are issuing manifestos with their proposals for the forthcoming elections in Venezuela. In her initial ever interview to the Indian media, Coromoto Godoy Calderon, Ambassador of Venezuela to India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, sharers her views with Huma Siddiqui on elections, new US President and bilateral relations with India.
Following are excerpts:
How effectively Venezuela is ready to guarantee free of charge parliamentary elections subsequent month?
From 1999 to date, Venezuela has held 24 electoral processes at unique levels. The Venezuelan men and women have a deep democratic will and our political path has usually been defined by our Constitution, the only one particular in the globe authorized via well-known consultation -on December 15, 1999- one particular of the most total, if not the most total Magna Carta that exists, offered its origins, offered its universality. The Constitution stipulates that parliamentary election be held each and every five years.
The men and women of Venezuela have usually gone to the polls to express their will in peace colloquially we refer to the elections as an “electoral feast”, when there are nations in which the electoral method is virtually a war scene.
President Nicolás Maduro has reiterated on many occasions, and we reaffirm it: on December six Venezuelans are going for elections that are certainly well-known, and eminently participatory.
In the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Venezuela has created an exemplary electoral campaign, with effectively-defined bio-safety protocols. From November three to December three, the Electoral Campaign is on at the national level so that the men and women obtain and overview the proposals of the candidates and can vote freely for the selection of their preference.
In addition, it is noteworthy that electoral processes in Venezuela usually have the presence of international witnesses invited by the electoral physique in a voluntary, sovereign manner and with clearly established guidelines. For December six, the presence in Venezuela of far more than 300 international witnesses, proposed by the unique political parties have been confirmed, which includes the most vital institutes for the improvement of electoral method in Latin America and the Caribbean, international observers from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and from the United States, representatives of electoral bodies, political observer bodies, political science organizations, vital intellectual leaders of the globe.
All of them will oversee as soon as once more the peaceful and protagonist nature of the electoral method which we will go for in masse on December six to elect a new National Assembly. In Venezuela, the electoral governing physique is the National Electoral Council (CNE), which organizes, directs and challenges the benefits of the elections, on the day of the elections. The well-known will expressed is declared, in a method that is auditable in all its phases, ahead of in the course of and following, by all participating political actors. For all these causes, our Electoral System is deemed one particular of the most sophisticated in the globe.
The value of these elections?
These parliamentary elections will let us to have a new National Assembly, which will take charge on January five, 2021, as mandated by the Constitution and will come to be the political epicentre of the nation, setting the country’s political agenda. I say this from conviction that on December six the men and women will close the doors of a National Assembly that had turned its back on the nation, and whose pro-imperialist line brought on suffering to the population and lent itself to destabilizing, interfering and conspiratorial plans.
What are the expectations of Venezuela from the incoming US administration beneath President-elect Joe Biden?
Our international policy is the Bolivarian Diplomacy of Peace, primarily based on the principles of self-determination, non-interference and respect for the sovereign equality of States. Venezuela is a promoter of the multicentre and pluri-polar globe, strongly promoted by Commander Hugo Chávez, historical leader of the Bolivarian Revolution and by our President Nicolás Maduro.
President Nicolás Maduro not too long ago mentioned clearly that we want to have fantastic relations with the Government of the United States. We aspire to have greater relations of dialogue, respect, cooperation with the United States of America, regardless of who governs that nation. We have exceptional relations with their men and women and the rejection of the unilateral sanctions imposed by the Trump administration is proof of this.
Our President has been a tireless promoter of dialogue internally and with the neighborhood of nations, but with out circumstances, with out blackmail, amongst equals. We have causes to be optimistic, we see that a new consciousness is increasing in humanity, a new vision is getting raised in the United States of America, in its youth, in its men and women, they no longer want imperialist wars, they no longer want threats and looting. They no longer want Latin America to be treated as a backyard, they do not want it and neither do we. That is why we have usually maintained the will for dialogue regardless of who is in charge of the US administration. Despite the unilateral and illegal sanctions imposed on our People, as a technique of cruel, criminal persecution. From Venezuela, we will continue to insist on dialogue, primarily based on respect amongst equals, with out interventionism, in defence of our suitable to Gandhian peace.
What are Venezuela’s perspectives on the current developments in Bolivia, Chile and Perú?
Venezuela is respectful of the internal processes of each and every nation and, in that sense, we are fervent practitioners of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. In this regard, I would like to quote a popular sentence of the initial Indigenous President of Mexico and Latin America, Benito Juárez, who mentioned: “respect for the rights of others is peace”.
It is up to the peoples of the Latin American continent to carve out their dreams and fight to be the masters of their destiny. The spirit of our ancestors and liberators is present in our continent: Atahualpa Lautaro Tupac Katari Tupac Amaru Juana Azurduy Bolivar and Sucre. The emancipating force of their legacy encourages our peoples to unite in the fight for fantastic living, for definitive political independence.
That is why nowadays we can observe how the Whipala in Bolivia and the Wenufoye in Chile wave freely and as also the emblem of the Tahuantinsuyo in Peru.
It is the men and women of the continent, like the Venezuelan men and women, who are pushing for the historic birth of independence and true freedom. It is the Latin American men and women who have awakened to self-ascertain and forge their personal destiny.
What methods does Venezuela propose to take to boost trade and investment ties with India? How does it strategy to make a far more conducive small business and financial climate?
India and Venezuela established relations on October 1, 1959, and these have observed the greatest dynamism and rapprochement with the arrival of the Bolivarian Revolution in our nation and the visionary impulse that our excellent leader Commander Hugo Chávez gave it. Last March we commemorated 15 years of his take a look at to India, the initial and so far, the only one particular by a Venezuelan president to this nation.
Since then we have been advancing in what we aspire to be a complete strategic partnership with India in the power, technological, scientific, pharmaceutical, educational and cultural and tourism sectors.
In a virtual meeting organized by the Indian Embassy in Caracas and the FICCI, I had the chance to clarify to firms in the Indian pharmaceutical sector that Venezuela, via the National Constituent Assembly, authorized an Anti-Blockade Law a constitutional law, which offers our nation with the essential instruments to advance in constructing new alliances, new investments, enhance the Venezuelan economy to a greater-level, with new dynamics, new engines and anything that is basic, give maximum guarantees of constitutional and legal safety to national and international investments.
And, I would like to inform that Venezuela is open and prepared to consolidate strategic alliances with Indian firms. Not only do we want to advance in bilateral trade, we want to assure the formation of joint ventures with Indian firms that have an interest in assisting us to diversify our economy, the industrial apparatus and expand our capacities inside the framework of this robust anti-blockade law.
In this sense, we market the consolidation of alliances in the field of mining, tourism, science and technologies, Ayurveda medicine and film production, this latter getting a sector in which we have important knowledge and have set up facilities that make our nation an audio-visual location par excellence.
What about Indian Pharmaceutical firms?
Commercial exchange has usually been maintained in all regions, which includes pharmaceuticals. There are no outstanding debts with the pharm sector, as on date.
Indian pharmaceutical firms stay in Venezuela and will not leave. On the contrary, they have expanded their operations with vital development plans. We thank them for their trust.
I reiterate that the Anti-Blockade Law is a commitment to a globe free of charge of sanctions and coercive measures that undermine our capability to engage commercially with all the nations of the globe. The Anti-Blockade Law is a step towards generating new alliances for the improvement of the true economy. The Indian firms that are our partners are protected by this law as will be all these who want to take benefit of the massive possibilities that Venezuela presents.
The Anti-Blockade Law is the right, pertinent, and fair response to face these so-referred to as financial sanctions that not only have an effect on our peoples but also our industrial allies.
Did your nation seek assistance from India in the course of a international pandemic?
We are pretty grateful for India’s assistance in the framework of the COVID-19 Pandemic, as Ambassador Singh’s initial action upon his arrival in Venezuela was to provide four tons of supplies to fight the pandemic. The sensible governments of the globe are conscious of the criminal nuance of sanctions and their influence on basic sectors such as the wellness sector.
For this purpose, we thank the men and women and Government of India, specifically Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, for supporting Venezuela in these hard situations.
As ambassador to India, which sectors are you keen to discover, as soon as the political uncertainties are addressed and Biden administration requires more than?
As Ambassador of Venezuela in India, I operate to strengthen relations amongst Venezuela and India in all regions, regardless of who governs in other nations, since India is a sovereign nation and an emerging energy in the multipolar globe.
Relations with India have massive prospective. Within the framework of the bilateral relations amongst Venezuela and India, there is a commitment to mutual respect and deepening of relations of cooperation in the South-South sphere.
Both nations recognize and guard each Civil and Political Rights (CPD) and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR), which are human rights connected to the improvement of the standard political, social and financial circumstances essential for a life in dignity and freedom in regions such as political participation, freedom of expression, social safety, wellness, education, meals, water, housing, sufficient atmosphere and culture.
In all these regions there is excellent prospective to expand relations amongst India and Venezuela, with out the interference of third nations in their expansion and improvement, with the commitment to improve the excellent of life of our fraternal peoples.