Hence Chavismo has come full circle. From a movement that showed how nonelite actors could use the instruments of electoral democracy to upend an entrenched elite, Chavismo has itself become an entrenched elite preventing those same instruments from upending it.

This is not only a violation of Venezuela’s Constitution, it is a violation of one of the most basic of human rights, the right of people to choose their leaders.

The international community needs to respond vigorously but intelligently. The United States government’s unilateral, targeted sanctions put into effect in March 2015 have already done considerable damage to Venezuela’s political process. In theory, they are supposed to discourage government officials from engaging in human rights abuses. In reality, not only do they provide the government with substance for its anti-imperialist rhetoric but they also create a cadre of officials who see their fate as synonymous with the government’s and who will fight for it to the end. Indeed, Mr. Maduro has promoted most of those on the sanctions list and has placed several in key security positions.

Effective international engagement must be multilateral, preferably working through existing institutions. While Venezuela has long dismissed the Organization of American States as an imperialist tool, Secretary General Luis Almagro’s invocation of the Democratic Charter in June seriously got their attention. That initiative needs to be taken up again. The Union of Southern Nations does not have the institutional strength the O.A.S. has, but it has the government’s ear. Venezuela has embraced its role in the United Nations and would find it difficult to deflect a special envoy. Perhaps the only thing the opposition and the government have agreed on this year is the desirability of Vatican mediation in Venezuela.

Any dialogue that occurs should not be seen as an alternative to the referendum but should focus primarily on restoring the people’s right to choose their leaders. Debate regarding the economy, education and crime would serve only as a red herring for a government that is doing whatever it can to prevent change.