Venezuela election

[outsider]

I just got this email from Hands off Venezuela (HoV):

On Sunday April 14, Bolivarian candidate Nicolas Maduro won the Venezuelan
presidential election by a narrow margin. With 99.12% of the votes
counted, there was a 78.71% turn out, with Maduro receiving 7,505,378
votes (50.66%), and Capriles 7,270,403 votes (49.07%). Opposition
candidate Capriles declared that he does not recognise the result and
demanded an audit of 100% of the vote.

On Monday April 15 Capriles made a speech, which was broadcast live by all
private TV stations as well as CNN Spanish. In it he refused to recognise
the election results and called for mobilisations to demand a full manual
recount of the vote. These included a national pots and pans banging
protest on Monday at 8 pm, marches on the regional offices of the National
Electoral Council (CNE) on Tuesday 16, as well as a march on the CNE in
Caracas on Wednesday 17.

At the same time both the Organisation of American States president
Insulza and the United States declared that they were also in favour of a
full recount. The Spanish government added its voice to the chorus and
said they did not recognise the results of the elections.

This was followed by riots in the streets, road blockades and burning
barricades organised by opposition supporters. Prominent opposition
leaders spread rumours that ballot boxes and ballot papers were being
burnt to prevent a recount, using pictures of the destruction of electoral
material from previous election contests (these were taken from the CNE
website as can be seen here: http://aporrea.org/actualidad/n226929.html).

Following the allegation by prominent opposition journalist, Nelson
Bocaranda, that Cuban doctors were participating in the burning of ballot
papers, dozens of CDI (Integral Diagnosis health Centres) were attacked
throughout the country: http://aporrea.org/oposicion/n226966.html.

Gangs of armed opposition thugs were roaming the streets of the main
cities last night. Four Bolivarian supporters were killed as a result of
the violence, some of them in drive by shootings, repeating a pattern we
saw last week and on election day. PSUV offices were attacked in several
states as well as the buildings housing Simoncito pre-school nurseries,
Mercal and PDVAL state-run supermarkets and the Petrocasa housing program
in Carabobo. The private homes of a number of state officials were also
attacked. In the capital Caracas there were attacks against Telesur, La
Radio del Sur and VTV state media buildings. (See some PICTURES here:
http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/grupos-ultraderechistas-asediaron-cdi -viviendas-sedes-del-psuv-y-del-cne
and here:
http://www.laiguana.tv/noticias/2013/04/15/5072/VEA-COMO-SEGUIDORES-DE -CAPRILES-DESATARON-UNA-VEZ-MAS-GUARIMBAS-EN-ALTAMIRA-.html)

This is the real face of the so-called “democratic” opposition in
Venezuela. They are attacking all the symbols of the social programs of
the Bolivarian government, all the conquests of the revolution.

PSUV campaign coordinator Jorge Rodriguez as well as the new Venezuelan
president Nicolas Maduro described these actions as a “developing coup
d’Etat.” CNE president Tibisay Lucena rejected the blatant imperialist
interference on the part of the OAS, the US and Spain. She added that an
audit of 54% of the ballot boxes had been conducted, and that the final
count of 100% of the vote slightly increased Maduro’s lead.

The Venezuelan elections have been free and fair and the voting system is
fool proof. This has been ratified in several elections by institutions
which are not suspicious of revolutionary leanings like the Carter Centre.
The elections were observed by a range of international bodies, including
UNASUR and the OAS, all of which have certified their clean and democratic
nature. Even right wing governments like those of Mexico, Colombia and
Chile, not known for their sympathies towards the Bolivarian revolution
have recognized the result. Capriles himself accepted the results of the
October 7 presidential elections, which were organized by the same CNE,
with the same voting machines and with the same electoral register.

The bottom line is that the opposition lost the election and refuses to
accept the result. The result was close, yes, but there have been other
election results international with results which were even closer and
these were not challenged. Capriles himself only won the governorship of
Miranda in December last year by 40,000 votes and the PSUV accepted the
results. Chávez lost the constitutional reform referendum in 2007 by a
narrower margin, 1.4% and accepted the result.

As CNE head Tibisay Lucena pointed out, if the opposition wants to
challenge the results, there are legal mechanisms to do so, instead of
resorting to violence and not recognizing the official institutions.

What we see in Venezuela is an attempt to violate the democratically
expressed will of the people. Venezuela has elected a president, albeit by
a small margin.

We call on all progressive and democratic forces around the world to
remain vigilant, to express their solidarity with the Bolivarian
revolution, to denounce the undemocratic maneuvering of the opposition and
imperialism, to counter the lies and manipulation of the mass media and to
demand respect for the democratic will of the Venezuelan people.

London, April 16, 2013


Here is 'Venezuela Analysis', a very good source for what's going onh in Venezuela:

http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/8638

'Those who switched over, who chose “change”, were tempted by the *end to all problems* that Capriles promised. They believed you can just vote away all the problems that have continued or arisen over the last 14 years. They were short sighted and affected by the sabotage, by the fairly intense food shortages over the last month, the more frequent blackouts, and other problems that the private media conjured up...'

Same sort of tactics as the rich used in Chile in Allende's short administration.

[outsider]

At least 7 deaths Monday night; 18 'Central Diagnostic Centres' (Health Centres) burnt:

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/8652
Monday’s aggressions

'Last night seven people were killed as a result of opposition violence; two in Caracas, three in Ojeda, Zulia, one in Cumana, and one person in San Cristobal.

The opposition set fire to 18 Central Diagnostic Centres (CDIs – part of the Barrio Adentro health mission), and 3 subsidised food markets (Mercals). They also attacked the director of the CNE, Tibisay Lucena’s house, and the Telesur and VTV offices.

There are also unconfirmed reports of four attacks on housing mission buildings in Miranda, with seven people killed and ten injured.

The governor of Carabobo state, Francisco Ameliach, reported that 8 CDIs were “besieged” and Cuban doctors were attacked in his state. He said 64 people were detained inside the CDI, and “should go to jail, because we’re not going to tolerate a coup d’état here”...'