President Hugo Chavez’s governing party, the United Socialist Party of
Venezuela (PSUV) got mixed results in the regional and local elections
today, winning strongly in 17 out of 23 states, but losing the country’s two most
populous states and the Capital District of Caracas, with two more
states still to be decided.
Participating parties ended their campaigns for the November 23
regional elections on Thursday, many marking the day with large marches
and rallies that were mostly drenched by rain. Beginning with Friday
morning at 6am, all electoral propaganda, including TV and radio, was
prohibited.
On street corners, in subway stations, and in front of small kiosks on
Friday, Venezuelans from different neighborhoods expressed their desire
for peaceful, respectful, and massive participation in this Sunday’s
state and local elections.
As the end of the rainy season is in sight and final preparations are
being made to make the country ready to vote on Sunday, Venezuela has
been inundated with rain, causing nine deaths, mudslides, electricity
failures, road blockages, and flooding.
Tibisay Lucena, the president of Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, confirmed Sunday that voting equipment has been audited and
delivered to all of the 34,662 voting centers across the country in
preparation for this Sunday’s regional and local elections, which are
the first elections in Venezuelan to be 100% automated.
While campaigning in support of candidates for governor and mayor from
the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez has threatened to use military force in several states if
opposition leaders attempt to sabotage the political process during or
after the November 23rd elections.
Tibisay Lucena, the president of Venezuela's National Electoral Council
(CNE) announced on Saturday that her institution would be opening an
administrative inquiry into the state TV channel, VTV (Venezuelan TV)
for alleged disrespect of article 16 of the Regulation of Publicity and
Propaganda.
Many of the candidates of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
(PSUV) in the upcoming state and local elections are traitors to the
revolution who lack truly socialist values, according to Venezuelan
National Assembly Deputy Luis Tascón, a leftist known for criticizing
the "right-wing within" the Bolivarian Revolution.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez declared that he intends to have the
governor of oil-rich Zulia state, Manuel Rosales, convicted and sent to
prison for corruption, drug-trafficking, links to paramilitary death
squads, and plotting to assassinate him.
An "erroneous adjustment of the security system" in Venezuela's
electricity grid caused a power outage in 11 of Venezuela's 23 states
on Sunday, from 10:40 in the morning until the evening, according to
the president of the National Electricity Corporation (CORPOELEC),
Hipólito Izquierdo.
During a campaign event for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela
(PSUV) in the western state of Zulia on Sunday, President Hugo Chávez
declared that the current governor of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, is behind
a plot to overthrow the national government.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez threatened to "sweep off the map" the
Venezuelan Communist Party (PCV) and fellow leftist party Patria Para
Todos (PPT), both of which have launched alternative candidacies to
those of Chávez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) in the
upcoming November 23rd regional and local elections
At the main national launch of the United Socialist Party of
Venezuela's (PSUV) electoral campaign on Sunday Venezuelan president
Hugo Chavez declared that it would be possible to win all the governor
positions but warned against complacency and betrayal and also looked
at the tasks of the revolution beyond the elections.
