The Bolivarian Revolution has always called for dialogue and peace (2)

Published at: 27/02/2026 05:00 PM

With the objective of bringing to collective memory the times that the Bolivarian Revolution has called for dialogue and peace in the country, we present the violent events organized by the Venezuelan opposition in 2017.

Before this recount, it should be remembered that in 2016, some dialogue tables were held at the initiative of the National Executive, to resolve the political and economic situation that the country was experiencing, as a result of the sanctions requested by the Venezuelan right to suffocate Venezuelans. Despite the fact that a working route was drawn up between the Government and the opposition, they left the negotiating table and organized the guarimbas as a violent solution and avoiding political dialogue.

The first approach came after the Head of State, Nicolás Maduro, in order to consolidate the stability of the nation, accepted the invitation of former Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the government of the Dominican Republic, chaired by Danilo Medina. On that occasion, issues related to the sovereignty of the Homeland, the repudiation of interventionist and interventionist actions, as well as the organization of the electoral schedule and guarantees for regional and municipal elections were addressed.

As a result of that meeting, it was agreed that representatives of the national government and the Venezuelan opposition would hold a new meeting on September 27, accompanied by a commission made up of Mexico, Chile, Bolivia and Nicaragua. For that meeting, the Venezuelan opposition refused to attend.

Then, in 2017, seeking to stop the wave of protests that began in January after the suspension of the dialogue tables and the disqualification of political leaders linked to the organization of violent acts, President Nicolás Maduro reiterated his position on the need to sit down again and rebuild the country with the Venezuelan opposition.

However, in April, the opposition resumed the path of violence, organizing guarimbas in several cities of the country, in which more than 100 people were killed and thousands arrested during the demonstrations in the first half of the year. Despite this, the calls for conciliation did not cease and in the midst of intense opposition protests, Maduro described the dialogue as “a lifesaver and a way to build paths of peace” to prevent terrorist acts and coups d'etat.

In an address given that month from the Miraflores Palace, President Maduro stated: “I am anxious for the elections of governors to come and when those of mayors are due, those of mayors will come, anxious, because our natural terrain is the struggle of ideas in the electoral field, I am ready for what the Electoral Power says and my search will always be peace and I am ready for dialogue, we must build paths of peace so that the opposition will abandon the paths of violence and the coup”.

The Venezuelan News Agency (AVN) reported that between 2013 and 2017, the Venezuelan president had made a total of 338 calls for dialogue and peace, even during the program Los Domingos con Maduro #96, stressing that in 2017 alone he had issued 269 invitations to the Venezuelan opposition to find a solution to problems through conciliation: “the solution to problems cannot be confrontation, the sterile confrontation, the violence. Let us seek peace through political means, through electoral means, through dialogue.”

It should also be remembered that the representatives of the opposition right, who led the guarimbas and left at least 150 dead and hundreds injured, are the same people who today dismiss the new Amnesty Law for Democratic Coexistence approved by the National Assembly (AN).

Henrique Capriles Radonski : He was one of the most visible faces, denouncing the judgments of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) as a “coup d'etat” and actively participating in street marches.

Julio Borges : As president of the AN at that time, he was one of the main people responsible for the opposition “offensive” and for seeking international support for the application of sanctions, intervention and invasion.

María Corina Machado : The leader of the Vente Venezuela movement, advocated constant street pressure , the request for sanctions against the country and the ignorance of State institutions.

Freddy Guevara : As leader of the Popular Will party, he played a leading role in calling for terrorist tactics such as the sit-in, the “puputovs” and road closures.

Leopoldo López : Although he was under house arrest, he directed his Popular Will party through messages to coordinate violent actions in the street and attacks on State institutions.

National Constituent Assembly for Peace

The National Constituent Assembly (ANC) was convened by President Nicolás Maduro in May 2017 to reform the Constitution, seeking to curb the violence of opposition protests and stabilize the country. With 540 members, it was described by the Government as a democratic victory for peace.

The ANC brought peace of mind on July 30, 2017 when the Venezuelan people heroically, despite the guarimbas of the extreme right, went out to vote. This Assembly was presented as a solution to stop the political and social crisis, seeking the “reconstitutionalization” of the country in the face of sanctions and violence.

Due to terrorist actions led by the opposition leadership, several contingency voting centers were set up to guarantee the exercise of the right to vote, in cases where there are threats or sources of violence.

At that time, the rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE), Tibisay Lucena, reported that the entity carried out a thorough survey of pockets of violence across the country to establish special security measures. The electoral process was seen by the Defense Council as an action by the entire State to guarantee the protection of the effective exercise of the vote, the sacred right to participation and the protection of the lives of Venezuelans.

Lucena explained that “ at least 750 electoral centers were in areas where serious acts of violence were recorded . For this reason, they were relocated to those voters who are prevented from exercising their right to vote in their usual centers. These centers were in the Capital District and in 16 states of the country: Aragua, Barinas, Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Falcón , Lara, Mérida, Miranda , Nueva Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Táchira, Trujillo, Vargas and Zulia”. On that occasion, for Caracas and Miranda, the Caracas Polyhedron was activated as a Contingency Voting Center.

Despite the terrorist opposition threat, elections were held to elect representatives in the ANC, which consolidated peace in the country. President Maduro and the first secretary of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, agree on this statement, who also specified at the celebration of Workers' Day in 2018 that “there are those who somehow like to belittle the work that the ANC has done and when it comes to making a historical assessment, it established and consolidated peace in Venezuela”.

Even after three years of that event in 2020, President Maduro claimed the reach he had to destroy opposition violence with votes, writing on his Facebook account that “that July 30, 2017, the people heroically, despite the guarimbas of the extreme right, went out to vote and choose for the ANC, when it dawned on August 1 with the Elected Original Constituent Power, miraculously and magically, peace came to Venezuela, ending the violence that had plagued the country between the months of April, May, June and July of that year. We triumphed along the path of reason, the word, participation, popular vote and the true leadership of the Venezuelan people.”

AMELYREN BASABE/Mazo News Team