By Eduardo Miguel Álvarez Estévez
I was optimistic enough—though I’m now ashamed of that optimism—to think that Delcy Rodríguez would use her platform at the UN General Assembly to denounce to the world the kidnapping of Venezuela’s legitimate president, Nicolás Maduro. That she would demand justice for the Venezuelans and the 32 Cubans killed in Operation Absolute Determination. That she would recall that she was a disciple of Chávez. That she would honor Bolívar.
She did none of that.
What she did was confirm, before the entire world, who she really is: an architect of surrender, a master of treason, a woman who has turned opportunism into an art form.
What She Said at the UN
Delcy Rodríguez took the podium at the UN and announced—without a date or specific conditions—that there will be elections in Venezuela. She said her government has initiated a “political dialogue with sectors of the opposition” to guarantee “equal conditions for all.” She spoke of a “democratic transformation” and a “rebirth of Venezuela.”
She did not mention Nicolás Maduro. She did not mention Cilia Flores, who is imprisoned in New York. She did not mention Hugo Chávez, the man whose revolution she claimed to defend. She did not mention the 32 Cubans who died defending the very same palace where she now holds office.
But she did mention Trump. She expressed her gratitude to him. She thanked him “for his willingness to get back on the path of diplomatic relations and cooperation.” She described her meeting with the U.S. president as “historic.” And touted the oil agreement as “the largest ever signed.”
Betrayal Is No Longer a Hypothesis
In January, I wrote that there had been a betrayal. I was called biased. Today, after this speech, there is no longer any possible doubt.
Betrayal is not measured solely by what is said. It is measured by what is left unsaid. And Delcy Rodríguez left out the essentials. She remained silent about Maduro’s kidnapping. She remained silent about the invasion. She remained silent about the dead. She remained silent about Chávez. She remained silent about Cuba.
What she did was thank the executioner. The very same Trump who ordered the operation that killed 32 Cubans and dozens of Venezuelans. The very same man who has Maduro in a Brooklyn prison facing charges of narco-terrorism. The very same man who promised to “administer” Venezuela and take its oil for himself.
And she thanked him.
What This Means
Delcy Rodríguez’s speech at the UN is the final confirmation of surrender. It is not a democratic transition. It is a capitulation. It is not a rebirth. It is a funeral.
The “dialogue with the opposition” she announces is nothing more than the formalization of an agreement with Washington. The elections “on equal terms” she promises are nothing more than a fig leaf covering the nakedness of submission.
And while she speaks of “full democracy” and “reconciliation,” repression continues in Venezuela. Political prisoners remain in jail. The military personnel who refused to comply continue to be persecuted. And the 32 Cubans who died defending the Bolivarian Revolution have not been given a single plaque, a single tribute, or a single word of recognition.
She and Diosdado Must Answer
Delcy Rodríguez and Diosdado Cabello will one day have to answer to history and to the Venezuelan people. Not to Washington, which applauds them. Not to Miami, which celebrates them. But to the millions of Venezuelans who believed in Chávez. To the families of the fallen. To the Cubans who lost their children defending a cause that these two are now betraying.
History does not forget. And traitors always end up alone, surrounded by their masters but abandoned by their people.
What I maintain
- Delcy Rodríguez confirmed at the UN what we already knew: that the Bolivarian Revolution was betrayed from within. That those who claimed to defend it handed it over. That the empire did not need to invade to win: it was enough to buy its way in.
- Chávez warned us. Fidel warned us. Martí warned us. And we, from our trenches, continue to warn: betrayal is the empire’s deadliest weapon. Not aircraft carriers. Not drones. Betrayal.
Cuba has not fallen. Cuba will not fall. But look at Venezuela and learn. Because what happened to Venezuela could happen to us if we let our guard down.
Fatherland or Death. We shall prevail.
-Eduardo Miguel Álvarez Estévez is a Cuban journalist.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano
Translation by Internationalist 360°, p
