VenAmérica manifesto: Venezuela urgently needs a new government

History places nations before moments that define their destiny. There are circumstances in which collective pain demands much more than speeches: it demands leadership, trust, responsibility and decisions capable of safeguarding the lives of citizens. Today, Venezuela faces a tragedy of enormous proportions; thousands of families have lost loved ones, homes and livelihoods, and find themselves overwhelmed by the manifest incapacity of the State, in every respect, when they need it most.

In the face of this reality, the Venezuelan people once again show their resilience and their immense fraternal and humanitarian vocation, demonstrating once more that their greatest wealth is not underground but in their people; it lies in the solidarity and spirit of their citizens. It is neighbors who move rubble with their hands; it is doctors, nurses, firefighters, rescuers and volunteers who, without resources, are sustaining hope today. It is all of them who, even having lost everything, continue to help others.

They represent the true strength of Venezuela and the pride of being Venezuelan. However, that formidable civic greatness contrasts dramatically with the reality of an ignominious, absent, incapable, indifferent, inoperative and inefficient State, which should have responded with presence, promptness, effectiveness and coordination, from the very first minute, to a catastrophe of unknown proportions, to which there is still no official response.

And that same Venezuela, which bears its pain while struggling to survive, listens in astonishment to the deafening noise of the silence and absence of the Armed Forces, the police forces and all the bodies of the State, whose obligation and oath was to immediately place their logistical, operational and human capacity at the exclusive service of rescuing, safeguarding and caring for the victims, as well as guaranteeing the comprehensive security of people and property, now subjected to looting.

A national tragedy does not allow for improvisation, strategic calculations, unfounded statements and, much less, indifference, sabotage or propaganda. Every hour lost means lives not rescued, communities that remain isolated and families that keep waiting for help that, despite the promises, never arrives.

The primary duty of any government is to protect the lives of its citizens. When that duty is not effectively fulfilled in the nation’s most critical hour, a political responsibility inevitably arises that cannot be ignored. That is when democracy and its values gain strength and vigor; it is the moment when the people decide to stand up and exercise their sovereignty, and every Venezuelan remembers that their voice and their conscience can become the force that transforms the destiny of the nation.

Therefore, VENAMÉRICA considers that Venezuela has reached a point at which it is indispensable and cannot be postponed, within the transition process, to bring about an immediate change in the leadership of the State. It is time to call on the nation to exercise its right to civic protest and peaceful civil disobedience, not as a gesture of empty rebellion, but as a higher act of conscience through which citizens reaffirm that collective dignity refuses to remain subordinated to unjust, belated decisions; because when a country breaks down and disowns its authorities and representatives, clinging to power ceases to be leadership and becomes obstinacy; stepping aside, on the other hand, is the last act of responsibility that can be offered to a wounded nation.

For this reason, we demand that those who today temporarily occupy the government immediately step down from power; that they step aside with the sobriety that history demands to make way for a National Emergency Transitional Government, made up of people of moral standing, technical capacity and real independence, whose mission will be to rescue the country, protect the population, restore the institutions and steer republican life toward constitutional normality. Only then can the path toward normalization be opened.

This body must convene all national sectors —universities, academies, civil society, trade unions, business people, churches, humanitarian organizations and institutional forces committed to the Constitution—, as well as the cooperation of the international community, to restore the country on the principles of national unity, transparency, public accountability and absolute respect for human dignity.

There is no room for propaganda events, celebrations or political confrontations while there are Venezuelans trapped under the rubble or families waiting for food, medicine and shelter. History does not judge governments and leaders by their statements; it judges them by their attitude and by their ability to safeguard life when the nation faces dark hours.

From VENAMÉRICA we reiterate our solidarity with every affected family and our deep recognition of the thousands of anonymous heroes who today sustain Venezuela with their work, their sacrifice and their generosity. The reconstruction of the country will begin when public service is once again placed above power, when responsibility replaces propaganda and when the national interest prevails over any political interest.

Venezuela deserves a government that responds to tragedy with effectiveness, humanity and responsibility. That moment must begin now.

In Miami, June twenty-eighth, two thousand twenty-six.

For the Board of Directors,

Nelson Oxford, President

Directors:
Nelly Argüello
Marisol Angarita
Eduardo Betancourt
Rogerio Boscán
Vilma Petrash
Antonio Rivero
Neuro Villalobos
Ricardo Pinza, Executive Director