At the beginning of March the Frente Amplio Venezuela Libre was presented, a conglomerate that brings together different sectors of civil society and intends to work unitarily beyond the parties to rescue democracy and lead the country towards a transition of government and a change of model political.
In this movement of national character participate guilds such as Fedecámaras, unions, universities, students, members of the Catholic Church and Christian associations, as well as representatives of opposition political parties and leaders of the so-called democratic chavismo.
Several analysts have asked if this new platform is the right way to face the democratic crisis. "In politics there are things that can happen, because it is OK for them to happen, but sometimes they do not happen at the right time" is the first thing that Sócrates Ramírez, a historian from the Universidad de los Andes (ULA), research coordinator of the Center for Political Studies of the UCAB and former Director of Research and Historical Advisory of the National Assembly.
Ramírez expressed his opinions on the future of this newborn initiative of civil society.
What can we expect from the Frente Amplio?
"First of all, that you have a specific objective, defined, that can take it on good terms and quickly. Because to the extent that this objective occurs in a very long time will appear fractures, disagreements, difficulties that we have seen previously in previous organizations such as the Democratic Coordinator or the Democratic Unity Table, which brought together only political parties and in which there were many controversies and discussions to reach agreements; we can imagine the differences that could be found in an organization in which, in addition to parties, organizations will coexist with purposes that are not essentially political, but social, academic or economic. Another thing that I think should be resolved in a very short time are the mechanisms of internal functioning of that broad front, because the actors that comprise it have natural fears. On the one hand, the parties may have the fear of being overlooked by organizations that do not have their own criteria, that the Frente Amplio is out of their hands and that, as happened with the experience of 2002-2003, this organization become one in which other types of actors take the baton of the political context. On the other hand, the unions, the business community and the students can feel the fear of being invited to a party where that will be just that, the guests and not the actors that may have weight in the decisions that are made. Then there must be balance in the approach of actions and decisions ".
What will give stability to this front?
"Well, the agreement, the establishment of limits where everyone knows what is the role that corresponds to it and what is the objective that must be met. If this does not happen, we will again be facing a good attempt at organization but an unstable attempt ".
What should be avoided so that it does not fail?
"Sectarianism between the parties and between the sectors that wish to participate must be avoided. To the extent that there is a narrative that promotes inclusion, that encourages smoothing rough edges, that seeks a balance between the proposals made by these sectors of Venezuelan civil society, I think we would be walking in the direction of giving a certain floor to this front. Almost all organizations with political intentions are born in situations of great fragility and this is not a different case "
What role should civil society play to make this work?
"The first role that civil society must assume is to organize itself, there are different kinds of efforts that are being made, ranging from the social and from the humanitarian to the political. Civil society must have representatives to take their voices to these discussions. This is a very complicated process, which although one expects it to be fast, it is going to be slow, difficult. Especially because for the sake of wanting to do good there are many definitions about the orientation of that good and time we can go to discuss what is the best strategy. Venezuelan society must be disciplined in the strategy decided by the Broad Front and that must be at the same time almost the main concern of this front: work on a political strategy for democracy in Venezuela. If we are going to vote, it can not be for a simple voluntarism to vote, but there must be a political strategy for defending the vote and for reporting fraud (if this fraud occurs, which is very likely). If you are not going to vote, that can not be because of the voluntarism of not going to vote, that must be accompanied by a strategy that tells the population what to do in case of not going to vote. "
What is the attitude that political parties should take against the sectors of civil society that make up this platform?
I believe that its role should be to accept that there will be no possibility of a return to democracy if it is not listened to, if it does not dialogue with the rest of the country that does not necessarily militate or is not actively involved with these parties. The political parties must make a very detailed reading of their internal situation, which is very weak and disorganized, as a consequence of a set of decisions that have been made and that have not been taken as well. They must take advantage of this moment to allow themselves to reach out and, at the same time, reorganize themselves internally, to accompany the rest of the democratic forces in this fight for the restoration of freedoms. "
"I wish there was a mathematical formula, as many crave, to get out of this madness. The reality is that there is no road, that we have to build it together. Historical experience shows that when vast sectors of Venezuelan society manage to reach an agreement (sacrificing ambitions in favor of common destiny) tyranny ceases ". Laureano Márquez
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