Why should the world focus on Venezuela? What the opposition has demonstrated is historic, with implications for the future of liberty in the world. Let me explain. Thread

1/ The Venezuelan elections were conducted with the most obstructionist rules and norms imaginable. Everything was designed to supress the vote. All the tactics used by autocrats to crush the opposition in elections were used, and then some.

2/ These rules and norms included: - explicit bans on candidates, especially the front-runner - interventions of parties to get rid of their leaders (a type of nationalization of parties), - harassements on reporters; - restrictions on airtime for the opposition

3/ There is more: - creating fake opposition candidates, - plastering fake candidates on the ballot, with the wrong party logos, to create confusion - restrictions on campaign finance - using armed civilians to harass protesters - making huge oil deals prior to the election

4/ - attacks on businesses offering services during campaign rallies, - arresting campaign officials - arresting ruling party members who criticize. - banning intl observers - not updating the electoral registry - placing voting centers in hard-to-reach places, etc.

5/ And all of this happened before election day, where the fraud reached new heights, including denying the opposition the tallies produced by voting machines and not disclosing the actual numbers.

6/ And yet, the democratic forces prevailed in the election--and prevailed in a massive way. We don't often see democratic movements come out so on top after these many obstacles were thrown at them.

7/ We have not seen too many democratic triumphs of this magnitude, in this kind of environment, during this democratic-backsliding era. This was a showing for the world to see: despite obstacles, mobilizing the vote against a terror machine is possible.

8/ Jul 28 was the example that democrats worlwide in autocratizing settings needed to see.

9/ The example was so huge that it forced the government to go where it never wanted to go: to take off its "popular" facade, its democratic masquerade, and come out as the monster that liberty-defenders worldwide always knew it to be.

Maduro, acting on behalf of all autocrats in the world, knows perfectly well how historic and world-impacting his loss was for autocracies around the globe, and how important it is for his world movement to crush this democratic example, one more time.