Leopoldo López in the NYT

Leopoldo López published an op-ed in the New York Times. He talks about what Venezuelans must do, but the thrust of the article (given its audience) is the demand for pressure on the government to "lobby for democratic rights" and, perhaps even more crucially, allow election observers.

For the December elections, pressure must be applied on the government to allow electoral observers from the O.A.S. and the European Union, which has not occurred since 2006. Their independence and impartiality are needed now more than ever to ensure that our opportunity for change is not compromised.

Given the context, this is a reasonable request. There were real problems in 2013. Meanwhile, 31 ex-presidents of Latin America (and apparently also Spain for some reason) signed a document calling for international observers. The Venezuelan government has rejected having either the OAS or the EU.

But where will this pressure come from? U.S. pressure will be counterproductive so this needs to come from Latin America, where we're seeing no pressure of any kind.