Una oración por Venezuela

By Rocio Granados - La Voz Catolica

MIAMI | On Jan. 9, 2025, dozens of Venezuelans attended a holy hour and Mass at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity to pray for Venezuela. The event, organized by leaders of the diaspora, was held in the hope that freedom will return to their homeland.

“We want the restoration of freedom, of democracy for our people. That is why, tonight before God, we want to ask for his intercession in Venezuela so that our people will be free and peace will return to the country,” said Nelly Argüello, a Venezuelan who has lived in the United States for 20 years.

“We have a country that has been held hostage. We ask the world to see what is happening with Venezuela in light of the violation of democracy,” Argüello added, in reference to the victory of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, who won the electoral vote in the July 28, 2024 elections but was not recognized by Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which awarded the victory to Nicolás Maduro.

“Today our hearts beat with strength, together with our Venezuelan brothers and sisters in their longing and struggle to banish from their land the darkness of op- A prayer for Venezuela Venezuelans from Miami gather at the Shrine of Our Lady of Charity to pray for freedom pression and reunite their families in peace, freedom and prosperity,” said Father Ángel Andrés González, vice rector of the shrine, during his homily a day before the date scheduled for the swearing in of the new Venezuelan president.

“These days are crucial. Many things have happened today and we expect more tomorrow,” the priest said.

“Venezuela’s struggle is not only political, but one for the fundamental principles of the human being: dignity, freedom and the right to live in justice. Since July 28, this struggle is for the truth and for the will of the people to be respected. No matter how great the darkness, we know that the light of Christ always dispels the shadows of oppression. Do not stop sharing your pain, but also sing of your hopes to everyone,” Father González said.

In addition to the bread and wine, the Venezuelan flag, the Constitution and a copy of the voting records of the July 28 elections were presented during the offertory. A family of immigrants was offered as a symbol of the whole Venezuelan family that is scattered, divided inside and outside the country. Images of political prisoners were also presented, photographs of activists who are detained by the regime.

“They were arbitrarily kidnapped and we don’t have information about many of them. Their families have not been able to visit, they have not had access to a lawyer because they have been denied the right to counsel, and we do not know about the health of many of them,” said Rita Sánchez, coordinator in Miami of Voluntad Popular, part of the opposition coalition to the Maduro regime.

“There are more than 2,000 political prisoners among political activists and ordinary citizens,” Sánchez explained, adding that in Venezuela you do not have to be a politician, just a dissident, to be a victim of the dictatorship. “You could be a housewife who demonstrated against the shortages, or the lack of electricity, or the lack of water, for that simple reason you can be arrested.”

After July 28, young people and children were detained for having a message on their phones opposing the regime. “There are many, many young people and children who are in prison, girls who have been sexually abused. The worst atrocities have been committed against them,” she added.

“More than 1,800 people were detained before 2024. A significant number of people have gone missing. It is a very complicated situation for Venezuela, but we pray because we are sure that we will get out of it,” said Anabel Alayeto, who was handing out candles with the inscription, “Hasta que logremos la libertad de todos los venezolanos” (Until we achieve freedom for all Venezuelans), and a prayer for Venezuela that was read at the end of the Mass.

THE LAST VENEZUELAN ELECTIONS

In the elections of July 28, 2024, the opposition candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, received more than 70 percent of the votes, but the Venezuelan National Electoral Council gave the victory to Nicolás Maduro, without providing a detailed vote count.

The opposition, led by María Corina Machado and González, compiled tallies of more than 80 percent of the voting machines and published them online, claiming that they show that González received twice as many votes as Maduro.

Venezuelans in Miami could not participate in these elections because there is no embassy. They participated in the elections of Oct. 22, 2023, to elect the candidate that would represent them in the election against Maduro. Machado was elected, but she was barred politically before the elections. Consequently, González was elected as the candidate of the opposition.

Following the election results, protests erupted throughout the country. Several Latin American countries and the United States showed their support for González, who sought political asylum in Spain in August 2024.

On Jan. 9, 2025, protests against the Maduro regime took place worldwide. In Venezuela, and after several months living in clandestinity, Machado appeared at a protest called by the opposition, in which she was detained by the Maduro regime and later released, according to the Democratic Unitary Platform.

The capture and release of Machado in Venezuela “was an act of intimidation, of threat by the regime; but, like all the things they do, it did not succeed,” said María Teresa Morín, director of Comando Venezuela in the United States. “The faith, courage and bravery of Venezuelans, inspired by María Corina Machado’s own fearlessness, is stronger than everything else.”

On Jan. 10, 2025, Maduro was sworn in for a third term of six more years. Machado reappeared in a video, informing that the Maduro regime had closed its land borders and airspace and activated an air defense system, preventing González from entering Venezuela to be sworn in as president. “He will come to Venezuela to be sworn in at the right time, when conditions are appropriate,” Machado said.

From the Dominican Republic, González called for disavowal of Maduro’s illegitimate regime, pointing out that “with a coup, Maduro has violated the Constitution and the sovereign will of Venezuelans, expressed on July 28. He crowns himself dictator.”

For Oscar López, coordinator of Comando Venezuela in the United States, Jan. 10, “marks an important date, a turning point for freedom… or the beginning of the end for freedom.”

He also pointed out that “in these difficult and complicated times, when we are all anxious and very nervous about what may happen, let us not be ‘immediatists.’ Days do not end when we work with faith.”

“In this Year of the Jubilee, we are going to be pilgrims of hope, of freedom, and of the reconstruction of our country,” López said. “Without giving a specific date, let’s say it will be in 2025. This is a pilgrimage, and the eight million of us who are outside Venezuela, and all those who are inside, will do it.”