The simple reason is that the system is so screwed up that voting or not makes no difference. It is not that I am still registered in San Felipe though now forced to live in Caracas and too lazy to drive. Even if I were back in San Felipe I would not vote.
Thus the act of voting becomes an ethical choice. Why ethical? Because I need to respect the memory of those who sacrificed their lives so I could have the right to vote AND chose my leaders. But the regime has been effective in rendering that right meaningless and suddenly the ethic choice is also not to vote so that chavismo cannot take for itself a right that they never fought for. Not voting is the way to honor those who sacrificed so much in the 40ies and 50ies. Voting would betray them. Not even the situation of the vote of 1952 was as dire as it is today in Venezuela.
Thus my ethical choice is not to vote.
I make that choice independently of outside forces. Those who have preached abstention without offering a replacement strategy only deserve my contempt. Their refusal was motivated more about opposition internecine warfare than any true ethical choice. If the choice not to vote was ethical we would see them organizing massive protests all around the country these days. They are not. How come? Because they lack in moral rectitude, or at the very less do not express it. People sense that. I am not into relativity here, from Maria Corina Machado to Ramos Allup, they have failed. For her is a way to hide that even though she has the right ideas she is unable to organize a political movement like Leopoldo Lopez did. And for which he paid direly, abandoned by all except MCM. For Ramos Allup whose ambiguity, family connections and personal ambition led him to wreck the opposition electoral impulse more than once the result is that he has become the silent outcast. Calling for abstention is for him an admission that he has run out of ideas, that he cannot lead otherwise but through the void, perhaps destroying himself politically on purpose so he can ride into the sunset.
Voting for Maduro is of course out of the question. Even though I have come to understand than only total collapse, Venezuela becoming a failed state, could eventually throw the regime away my ethics block me from voting for Maduro to hasten the end because of the suffering that my vote would help in coming.
Finally, voting for Henri Falcon (or a minor yet chavista oriented candidate) is impossible on ethical grounds. Falcon has been a liar through and though during his campaign, breaking promises within days of uttering them, becoming perhaps the lone candidate in history to break his electoral promises big time before election day. Falcon has shown no ethics in his political carrer, just a cold calculated outward decency that drove him to the attempt he is really making, to become the anointed heir of the official opposition. Thus stealing all the work that was done by all, from Lopez to MCM. It will not happen and along the way he will destroy any chance the opposition has to create a common front. But he has no ethics to see that.
Voting or not voting, my ethics are challenged, but they are yet strong enough to give a moral compass and not vote on Sunday.
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I do not want this post to end so depressingly sad. Today we got a piece of good news, on what will really happen once this electoral farce is out of the way: Diosdado Cabello has finally been sanctioned by the US. Last but not least. I did a series of tweets on that and you can share in the good news below starting with that first tweet:
You need to read this carefully, the almost exquiste Treasury indictment, with excruciating details on why are sanctions imposed today on ALL Diosdado Cabello close family.— daniel duquenal (@danielduquenal) May 19, 2018
Why now since @dcabellor has been a main suspect for years? That is the question.https://t.co/Elz8C7sW9w
Our family and employee will also not vote.
ReplyDeleteHere are the results:
Total voters announced by CNE = 9.3 million
Reality somewhere near 3 million
Maduro: 62%
Falcon: 34%
Reality - anyone's guess
The problem with Venezuelans and some others is that it took too long to see that Venezuela has been living in an undemocratic society, since Chavez took office and even before to some extent.If we keep it simple it is easier to see: Voting in a Dictatorship guarantees dictatorship, not Democracy.Sanctions will not get anybody out.Force is necessary but almost impossible right now which should be obvious.Venezuelans lost years and years trying to define the meaning of dictatorship instead of concentrating on the false and biased news reporting , and trying to denounce that in the foreign press.Bad choices for too many years, puts it in a very hard place to resolve.Insisting on the high ground out of pride and ignorance, will lead nowhere.Criminals use naivety and your good intentions to win.Fight the press.It is still a shite.Just yesterday the BBC on NPR made it sound like the Venezuelan government is trying to help out in the situation in the prisons.Do not be so naive.
ReplyDeleteI bet the number voting is more then you think. My wife has been trying to get her passport renewed for 5 months here in Canada. It has come down to them telling her at the consulate here that she will get it the week after the election. Accompany this with the fact that Colombia released the story of all the fake id cards being issued to Colombians who are being paid to vote. I am sure my wife is voti voting in the election without even knowing it. Still remember her friend in the earlier Chavez days telling us how she was in charge of bussing Colombians from voting station to voting station with multiple id cards to vote for Chavez. This happened prior to any reports of corruption in the voting system.
ReplyDeleteOn another note Canada announced that they will not allow the 5000 Venezuelans in Canada to vote because the whole thing is a farse.
The public knowledge of the farse elections seems to be by design by the regime to break all opposition and it has certainly worked. The people behind the scenes want everyone to blame Maduro, Cuba, drug Cartels. All this means is the true brains behind it is not any of them.
Daniel, I fully agree with the decision you have made regarding your non- participation in this farce. You certainly don't have to explain your reasoning to anyone but your willingness to share your thought process is appreciated.
ReplyDeleteAlso..regarding the 400 tons of CLAP food that was seized in Cartagena because of weevil infestation as well as suspicion of money laundering, I wonder how much this will affect the regime's ability to hand out rewards to their "loyal voters" in a timely manner.
They do not give a shit. They are used to receive sub-par goods. As long as they are free or cheap.
DeleteThe CLAP was supposed to be handed out in our area on Saturday but it's now rescheduled to next Wednesday.
DeleteBut the SO received his CLAP at work. Twice in a month when the last one was in January I beleive. And he has no carné. But I guess some public employees are more equal than others. He took it of course, because the laradox is that he is obliged to take it least he becomes suspect.
DeleteVoting or not voting, my ethics are challenged, but they are yet strong enough to give a moral compass and not vote on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteWell said!!!
It's never a good idea to vote anywhere. Here's why:
ReplyDeletePrincipled Nonvoting: The Beginning of Disengaging From the State
Labor day has come and gone, and there is an election this November. The campaign season is on. The airwaves, the internet, and what’s left of the print media are saturated with political ads. All of this leads many Americans to wonder who they’re going to vote for. Quite a few realize that the choice is essentially limited to the Democratic scoundrel or the Republican scoundrel. Regardless, to too many people voting is seen as a patriotic, almost sacred duty. Clichés abound about how our forefathers gave their lives so we can have the right to vote today. A lot of people see voting as a way to control the government and preserve our liberties. "If you don’t vote don’t complain", they say. In this article, however, I will explain why none of these positive things attributed to voting are true. In fact the very opposite is usually the case. http://theinternationallibertarian.blogspot.com/2010/09/principled-nonvoting-beginning-of.html
The above was written in 2010. I translated it to Spanish this year 2018:
El No Votar Por Principios: El Comienzo de la Desvinculación del Estado
[Este articulo fue originalmente escrito en 2010 en ingles para lectores en los EE UU. Con toda la polémica acerca de las elecciones convocadas para mayo (por ahora serán en mayo) en Venezuela pensé que las ideas expresadas son mas relevantes que nunca en ese país.]
El día del trabajador llego y paso, y hay elecciones en noviembre. La temporada de campaña está activada. Las ondas de radio y televisión, el Internet y lo que queda de los medios impresos están saturados de avisos políticos. Todo esto lleva a muchos estadounidenses a preguntarse por quién van a votar. Muchos se dan cuenta de que la elección se limita esencialmente al sinvergüenza demócrata o al sinvergüenza republicano. En cualquier caso, para mucha gente votar es visto como un deber patriótico, casi sagrado. Los clichés abundan sobre cómo nuestros antepasados dieron sus vidas para que podamos tener el derecho de votar hoy. Mucha gente ve la votación como una forma de controlar al gobierno y preservar nuestras libertades. "Si no vota no se queje", dicen. En este artículo, sin embargo, explicaré por qué ninguna de estas cosas positivas atribuidas a la votación son verdaderas. De hecho, todo lo contrario suele ser el caso. http://theinternationallibertarian.blogspot.com/2018/03/el-no-votar-por-principios-el-comienzo.html
Daniel, your introspection is deep and well thought out. You don't have to question yourself. During these terrifying times for poor Venezuela your credibilty remains so high. I always learn alot from your Posts and appreciate you exposing your thoughts to us.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteBut I may be tad too introspective for my own sake.....
You have to call it the way you see it Daniel with regard to voting.
ReplyDeleteDaniel more power to you. It might be ethical but it is not practical. You voted in previous elections when opposition ate los puntos rojos. Lo que es bueno pa'l pavo es bueno pa la pava.
ReplyDelete"Elect me and I will reveal my totally awesome secret plan to make Venezuela the richest in the world with good paying job for everyone and we will all be super duper rich"! Only those forced to will vote. In the Philippines this is called Lancero that is being forced to vote at the point of a spear.
ReplyDeleteYou should vote my friend :).
ReplyDelete