Brazilian voters in Venezuela, even if they want to, have nowhere to vote

Indignation is the feeling that hovers among Brazilians residing in Venezuela. They will not be able to participate next Sunday (2) in one of the most important elections in recent times. Since March 2020, by decision of the Itamaraty, there is no diplomatic representation of Brazil in the country of Nicolás Maduro.

The political rift between President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and the Venezuelan affected about 10,000 Brazilians who are now without access to constitutional rights, including the right to vote. If it weren’t for the radical decision, Bolsonaro could win again in the country, where the electorate traditionally favors candidates from the Brazilian right.

“I’ve been in Venezuela for 45 years and I’ve always voted. This will be the only time we won’t have the opportunity to vote because we don’t have a consulate or an embassy. I really wanted to vote in these elections because I already have my favorite candidate”, declared Amra Zatar from São Paulo.

Trader Imara Santos says that, in the 2018 election, when it was still possible to vote in consulates in Venezuela, she supported Bolsonaro motivated by her family. But the president’s administration disappointed her: “I voted for him, but I would never vote again. He doesn’t like us, Brazilians!”

One of Imara’s grievances with Bolsonaro arose at the time of the closing of diplomatic representations. She says she felt “abandoned” by the Brazilian government.

The exit from Venezuela, orchestrated by Itamaraty, took place when dozens of countries rejected the Maduro government in support of the opposition figure of the self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaidó. For Maurício Santoro, professor of international relations at the State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), this decision was another factor of turmoil in the Bolsonaro government.

“This created a diplomatic anomaly that resulted in many problems and difficulties and that, in the end, brought more obstacles than solutions to the way Venezuela relates to neighboring countries.”

Another Bolsonaro voter in Venezuela is medical student Lucas Medeiros. He voted for the current president when he was still living in Brazil and motivated by the evangelical wing, the former military’s main electoral base.

“I participated in the evangelical church, and Bolsonaro had a lot of influence in that part because of that ‘God, homeland and family’ speech, in addition to the disappointment that we had been having with the Workers’ Party”, he argues.

But Bolsonaro’s controversial speeches and the president’s lack of empathy led Lucas to reevaluate his vote. “Right now I would not vote for him again. The speeches he makes and some positions he takes within the country hurt the Constitution and especially human rights, especially during the pandemic. At no time did he show solidarity with the people who were with Covid.”

The report by RFI Brasil also spoke to other voters of the president in Venezuela. Despite the common complaint of wanting to vote but not being able to, they chose not to comment. One of those people, a trader who has lived in the country since 1970, said he would vote for the current head of state even though he turned his back on Brazilians in Venezuela. “I like him,” he explained.

Another Brazilian in Venezuela, who favored Bolsonaro and who preferred to remain anonymous, said he was “absolutely against the left and everything it stands for”.

“We will not be Venezuela”

The phrase “we will not be Venezuela”, repeated by President Bolsonaro and his followers, shows a rejection of the country with which Brazil shares more than 2,000 kilometers of border.

References and images of critical points in Venezuela were widely used in presidential speeches and also in montages that circulate on social networks. Some add to the list of fake news circulating in Brazil.

“I have friends who say ‘we don’t want to be like Venezuela’. So I ask what they know about the country, and they answer ‘what they read in the press’. account Amra.

When citing Venezuela, Bolsonaro and his electorate are referring to the most critical period in the country’s recent history. Between 2013 and 2019, severe food shortages, the abrupt fall in the value of the national currency and the alarming increase in poverty haunted the world. Scenes from the violent protests of 2017, which left more than 130 dead, are also part of the collective memory.

In this period, the growing migratory flow gained strength. There are more than 6 million Venezuelans around the world. According to the Federal Subcommittee for the Receipt of Immigrants, until September there were about 352,000 Venezuelans registered throughout Brazil.

“There is a different regional environment, more conducive to the return of a dialogue with Venezuela, particularly on the part of Colombia. human rights in Venezuela, with the authoritarianism of the Maduro regime. But it opens a round of political negotiations”, analyzes Maurício Santoro, citing the rapprochement between Colombia and Venezuela and the current tendency to the left in South America.

Difficult to get to Brazil

Some interviewees said they wanted to go to Brazil exclusively for voting. But between the lack of time for the change of electoral domicile and the high prices of tickets, they decided to follow from afar. “It is very expensive to leave Venezuela to go vote in Brazil. But I would really like to be in Brazil this Sunday to vote”, says Neusa Marcelino.

The Venezuelan government’s debt with some airlines and the indirect consequences of the sanctions applied to the country have led Venezuela, once one of the world’s main air destinations, to become even more isolated. There have been no direct flights to Brazil for over a decade. You need to make a stopover in Panama or another country and a return ticket can cost up to US$ 1,600 (R$ 8,642).

By land, conditions are terrible, especially in the Las Claritas stretch, in Bolívar state, almost on the border with Brazil. The closing of diplomatic representations increased the perception of distance between the two countries.

A market to be explored

The situation in Venezuela began to change in 2019, when dictator Nicolás Maduro launched economic easing measures to end shortages. Among the beneficiaries are companies located in the North of Brazil, which has made it common to find sugar, pasta, sauces and mixtures for food coming from Brazil on Venezuelan shelves.

There is still a lack of electricity in some cities in the country, and the chronic lack of water also affects Caracas. Garbage collection is precarious, and teachers protest against unhealthy teaching conditions. Despite serious problems, Venezuela is trying to get back on its feet.

Estimates point to a surprising 10% rise in GDP leveraged by the stabilization of oil production and the end of hyperinflation, which for years was ranked as the highest in the world.

Maduro has invited international investors to modernize Venezuelan infrastructure, but it still lacks credibility, weakened during the “era of privatizations” imposed by Hugo Chávez.

Venezuela is a country that imports at least 80% of everything it consumes. Who has been taking advantage of the country’s international isolation is Iran, a country that supplies food and gasoline and will soon return to producing vehicles. Russia, China and Turkey have also strengthened ties with the Maduro government.

If there is a change in Brazilian foreign policy, Brasilia-Caracas relations could be interesting for both countries. Although the negotiation of Brazilian food keeps bilateral trade heated, the balance is still far from the golden days when billions of dollars were traded between the two countries.

Between 2002 and 2010, trade between Brazil and Venezuela grew by more than 227%, rising from US$ 1.43 billion to US$ 4.68 billion.