Upcoming Venezuelan Presidential Election
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org - Home - Stephen Lendman)
I’ll be held in April, the date yet to be announced, likely at end of month.
Venezuelan presidents serve six-year terms. Anyone can be popularly elected for an indefinite number of times.
They must be at least age-30, be a natural-born citizen, and cannot be citizens of another country.
Since establishment of Bolivarian governance, Hugo Chavez served as president from 1999 until his death in March 2013, Nicolas Maduro succeeding him.
Last week, he announced his candidacy for reelection, saying “I am going to be a candidate…fulfilling the order of the working class, fulfilling the order of the popular base.”
“Brothers and sisters, I will not let you down. I assume the presidential candidacy for the 2019-2025 period, and I swear before you brother workers that I will be the candidate of the Venezuelan working class.”
Presidential elections are usually held in December. Polling showed most Venezuelans favor holding it early in the year.
Former Chavista National Assembly Speaker Diosdado Cabello said moving up the date intends boosting Bolivarian governance legitimacy in light of illegal US, EU and Canada sanctions.
“If the world wants to apply sanctions, then we call elections! Our people have the right to decide their own destiny,” he stressed.
Last December, Chavistas triumphed overwhelmingly in municipal elections, trouncing the fascist opposition, winning 308 of 335 municipal elections, including for 21 of 23 state capitals and the Caracas Capital District.
Three parties in the opposition fascist coalition boycotted the vote. They’ve done it before when expecting to lose, irresponsibly crying foul.
Venezuela’s electoral process is the world’s best, shaming America’s money-controlled sham process. International observers called the December elections open, free and fair. Boliivarian ones are always judged this way.
Council of Latin American Electoral Experts (CEELA) President Nicanor Moscoso said “(w)e believe totally and absolutely in the results offered by the National Electoral Council because all the guarantees offered throughout the process were given. It’s a very good (turnout), within the (regional) average…”
The results created momentum for Maduro’s reelection. The main opposition coalition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) said they’ll run a single candidate against him.
It’s unclear if other opposition candidates intend entering the race. Bolivarian fairness depends on Chavistas holding power.
Fascist opponents and Washington want it eliminated, restoring the bad old exploitive days, ended in 1999.
The Trump administration slammed the upcoming Venezuelan presidential election. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert lied, saying it won’t be free and fair - code language meaning triumphs by Chavistas are unacceptable, only by fascists Washington supports.
She disgracefully called the democratically elected National Constituent Assembly “illegitimate,” adding:
The April election “not reflect the will of the Venezuelan people, and would be seen as undemocratic and illegitimate in the eyes of the international community” - a bald-faced lie.
Neocon Nikki Haley opposes democratic governance everywhere. She lied calling Venezuelan municipal elections “fraudulent.”
She lied claiming they “unconstitutionally revoked the legitimate governing power of the freely elected National Assembly.”
She lied saying the April presidential election “would neither be free nor fair.”
She lied calling Maduro a “dictator.” She disgracefully denigrated Venezuela’s National Constituent Assembly.
She lied saying Maduro “continues to disregard the welfare of the Venezuelan people and rob them of their democracy.”
She threatened Venezuela, warning the Trump administration “will not stand idle as the people of Venezuela continue to be victimized by…Maduro.”
Washington bears full responsibility for victimizing the Venezuelan people, waging years of economic and political war - wanting despotism replacing social democracy.
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