Venezuelan opposition leader Capriles delivers message of confidence in Miami

Posted on Sunday, 09.15.13

Venezuelan opposition leader Capriles delivers message of confidence in
Miami
BY ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO
ADELGADO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles — who has
been criticized by certain segments of the opposition that would like to
see him take a more radical position against Nicolás Maduro's regime —
came out Sunday to convince nearly 5,000 people at a Miami convention
hall that he knows exactly what he's doing.

Capriles, who ran against the late Hugo Chávez in an election in October
and then did it again versus Maduro in April, said he feels that change
will come soon to his country and called on Venezuelans to continue
supporting him and join the fight.

"I feel that we are very, very close," he said referring to the prospect
of change. "That's the way I see it."

"But we need the support of all Venezuelans. We need trust. We need
confidence. We're going to drop whatever we need to drop to bring change
to Venezuela," Capriles said. "It's not a personal aspiration — it's a
collective project, and that makes a difference."

The Venezuelan opposition leader also delivered a message for the large
Cuban community in the United States.

"Today, we want to tell the Cuban people that change in Venezuela means
change also in Cuba," he said. "Freedom in Venezuela will also mean
freedom for Cuba, and democracy in Venezuela will also mean democracy
for Cuba."

Yet the boast of confidence seemed unnecessary, at least among those
attending the event organized by Miami Dade College and local
representatives of the Table of Democratic Unity at the James L. Knight
Center.

With the notable exception of a half-dozen people who tried to heckle at
the event, the audience seemed to be captivated by the opposition
leader. Many attendants had weathered an electrical storm and a strong
rainfall to come and see him.

The event took place amid growing criticism that Capriles had wasted an
opportunity in the days following the April election, when many of the
millions of Venezuelans who voted for him were willing to take to the
streets to protest and he asked them to stay home.

The momentum and emotional strength that surrounded Capriles had waned
considerably since then, while Maduro managed to evade questioning about
his legitimacy and people got used to seeing him answering the phone at
the presidential palace — even as the opposition contested the electoral
results.

The criticism seemed to dominate the leader's speech, as he insisted
time and again that the opposition had not given up.

"That on April 14 things happened the way they did? Yes. Does that mean
that we have given up, negotiated, surrendered? Never! … We have not
stopped our fight one single day. We are putting up a fight back home in
Venezuela," Capriles said amid applause from the audience.

"I have come to ask you that now, more than ever, we have to fight, and
you are called to accompany me in this fight," he insisted.

Yet that fight is not violent, said the governor of the state of
Miranda, who also spoke about uniting all Venezuelans.

The way out of the political mess in our country cannot be resolved with
coups or forced exits, he added. It must come from the conviction of the
majority of the population, including a large part of sectors that
traditionally supported Chávez, that the country needs change, he added.

"This is why the fight of the nation's democratic forces is fought in
the communities, with representatives of the opposition trying to
convince those popular sectors that the Chávez movement is greatly
responsible for the hardship in which we live," Capriles said.

Only with strong popular support and a solid civic organization can we
force the National Electoral Council, controlled by Chávez followers, to
respect the results of the election, he said.

"We need those people. We need that popular force … we must stop being a
divided country … we must build a united Venezuela, for this is not
about one-half of the population imposing themselves on the other half,"
the opposition leader said.

"Venezuela is all of us, which means that we must have a country where
all have the same rights and the same duties, and where no body is
discriminated against because of what he thinks," Capriles said. "We
cannot come out of this just to change color and continue the same."

"Unity will hardly be accomplished if both sides get into a violent
confrontation," he said. Yet "being peaceful doesn't mean that we are
fools. These are two different things."

In his speech, Capriles said the problems his country faced are very
serious and require the participation of all Venezuelans to resolve them.

He highlighted the gravity of the insecurity prevailing in the country,
where "50 people are murdered every day," as well as the acute scarcity
of basic products, causing hunger and despair among Venezuelans.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/15/3629781/venezuelan-opposition-leader-capriles.html