The European Observers Union Report

I owed this since last Tuesday but some other radio matters distracted me. Since then it has been covered elsewhere and I will just limit myself to two key points, the key ones in my opinion.

It is difficult for a report to start in a less ambiguous way. After the formal introduction stating how the observation was made, the opening paragraph is the following one.

Wide sectors of the Venezuelan society do not have trust in the electoral process and in the independence of the electoral authority.

There is no need for any comment. It joins the OAS report in staying that the CNE is deeply flawed and no serious elections can be held in Venezuela as long as the corrupt Mickey Mouse court of Jorge Rodriguez remains in place.

And then it moves on to stress the real crux of the matter, the point that has disgusted European observers and more and more people as Venezuelan apartheid is slowly uncovered by the outside world.

The disclosure of a computerized list of citizens indicating their political preference in the signature recollection process for the Presidential Recall Referendum (so-called “Maisanta Program”) generates fear that the secrecy of the vote could be violated.

Last night on the air I was asked about the Tascon list. People are getting the message and as the weeks pass chavistas supporters outside Venezuela will have a harder and harder tome to defend what is indefensible. Or they can put their conscience to rest, which probably means that they did not have much of one to start with.

Chavismo can use any trick of the game, any possible spin, it cannot hide the Tascon list unless it punishes Tascon and those who used his list. Word is spreading out and any future electoral observer will ask how that question was solved before even considering validating a Venezuelan election. I do not need to elaborate further on the EU report, the smart reader already got the point. The complete report is here anyway.

Teodoro Petkoff, in case somebody does not get it yet, gives some additional explanations. That is that, no trustworthy CNE, no election. Both government and opposition must understand that the future, and only hope for Venezuela democracy, is to form a new CNE and repair the badly damaged Venezuelan voting system. If the government refuses to consider it, then it will show its undemocratic mettle with all the consequences that this will imply. If it is not for the opposition to make concessions, it is still responsible of organizing itself in a serious movement capable of providing serious and consistent support to the voting process, from voting stations personnel, to a program that motivates people to go and vote.