For the past few weeks we have assisted to the show put up by the National Assembly electing, finally, and in a somewhat pseudo-constitutional way, a new Electoral Board (CNE). Any reason to be optimistic? None at all, of course. One of the reasons, by the way, that I did not bother much covering this show as more interesting stuff was happening elsewhere. (1)
Last Friday in a rather brief meeting, in spite of a pompous announcement of holding permanent session until the new board would be elected, the National Assembly named the 5 new rectors. The session was short enough to suggest that out of the 100 + finalists, the short list had been established long ago. Quite predictable. You can read in English a summary of the events that led to the nomination of that new CNE.
On Friday night when I learned that Tibisay Lucena was one of the 5 directors, I got confirmation that there was indeed a rat smell reaching my nostrils all along. The litmus test for this new group of 5 was going to be today at their first meeting: if Lucena became president today, then there was nothing to hope from that “new and improved” CNE.
Bingo! She was "elected" today.
The astute reader might say: "can't you give them at least a chance to prove that they have good intentions?" and my reply will be "No". Without even raising my voice, just a 'no' as a matter of fact. Why? Tibisay Lucena was brought to the CNE to assist Rodriguez, when this one was just one of the board members under Carrasquero. Then he was in fact the real president, Carrasquero being the mouth piece of the CNE. This one got his reward after working hard at ensuring a Chavez 'victory' in August 2004 by becoming a 12 year justice of the TSJ, a golden parachute of sorts. As a side comment, in that position for over more than a year he has failed to dazzle the country with any significant jurisprudence, not surprisingly. I even keep wondering how this non entity could even have made it to a law school teaching position.
Thus, as his own reward, Rodriguez became the CNE president: he was now the official chief, cashing in all possible voting machine contract he could think of while parading openly his pro Chavez position from the pulpit that should be the most impartial pulpit of the country. Tibisay Lucena, the woman in charge of executing the most important of Rodriguez dubious electoral initiatives (maneuvers? tricks?) got her reward by becoming a board member on her own. She must have worked hard at perfecting cheating mechanisms through the 2005 elections as she now is the only one of the past board to renew her appointment, and the presidency at that! For 7 years! She will even supervise Chavez 2012 reelection once the constitution is duly modified through a referendum also supervised by her.
Tibisay Lucena is bad news, through and through (2). From the rare appearances she does on TV you can see that she is ill at ease with the microphones and questioning, that she has a shifty look, that she avoids any direct reply. In short: I have never felt that she could be trusted for anything, even less than Rodriguez and that is to say a lot. She is, as we say in French "Un homme de main", the guy that does the dirty job behind the screens (3). I am actually amazed that they went ahead and nominated her, and even more amazed that they made her chairwoman! Probably sends a sign on how little important has the CNE become for Chavez now that he controls everything and that the abstentionist party is winning. I would not even be surprised if Chavez named Lucena just to flout his power to the world: “here! Look at that crook I put to run my elections! What are you going to do now? Suckers!”
What does this mean in practical terms? Nothing. Lucena has already built up the cheating system. She just needs to manage it and perhaps find ways to make it slightly more palatable in case international observers come back. She has no power, no authority, no matter what the constitution states. She is just there to receive the phone calls from Chavez and Rangel and execute the orders. Even the "opposition" nominee does not seem the kind to counter her except for the occasional show, à la Sobella Mejias. She will go down in history as the 'opposition' representative that facilitated the demise of that one, as an infamous spineless character that failed to show mettle except once, when she called Carter to make sure the signatures for the Recall Election petition were to be counted as the people wanted. It seems that after that, at some point she passed over to chavismo for all practical purposes.
What is the opposition going to do? The same thing: demand the right conditions to vote or threaten not to go. Lucena can do as she pleases, if a minimum of conditions are not met, the abstention will be again the winner in 2006. It is all in the hands of Chavez whether he wants to win fairly his reelection or if he wants to kill democracy once and for all.
Tibisay Lucena is just a symbol, a mouthpiece that is surely handsomely paid. She is nothing in the great scheme of things. I can bet anything that she will never be known as the “woman who restored trust in Venezuelan elections”.
No, it is up to Teodoro and company, and the people, to find ways to force Chavez to accept fair elections. This is not anymore a legal problem on the voting process, it is a political decision that must be dealt on a political level. Forget lawyers and meetings, they are useless at this point. Lucena and her mafia are just a freak show set up to distract.
PS: Written on Sunday PM. From the preliminary reports there is a general consensus within the opposition that the new CNE falls very short of the already less than moderate expectations that were held during the selection process. The word is simply: prove your independence. Some have even gone as far to state that the CNE was formed of 5 pro Chavez activists, without even a real "token" opposition. Tibisay Lucena starts with zero "honey moon", zero credit. Not that she seems to mind if you ask me....
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1) For those who love technicalities, the CNE is one of the 5 powers of Venezuela, a ridiculous invention of Chavez in his quest of “Bolivarian” pompousness. Roughly it is elected as follow: NGO and judicial and Law School faculties propose a list of candidates. These ones are screened by “the people” but in fact by a committee dominated by the National Assembly (already a fault there). Then out of those who make the cut, the National Assembly elected by a 2/3 vote the 5 board members for a 7 year period. With 100% of the National Assembly, the reader can intuit that hell would have frozen over before chavismo would have not controlled at least 3 out of 5 of the CNE, with two weak ones “against”. It seems that it is 4 for Chavez and a weak token for the rest.
And before anyone says that the opposition should have run in December to be able to participate more directly I would remind them that the CNE should have been named by the previous Assembly but since chavismo did not dispose of the 2/3 majority it stalled and sabotaged all until it sent the nomination to the Chavez controlled High Court, in total constitutional violation as such measures should have had a temporary character of a few months at best. But in its blinding cynicisms chavismo refused to even discuss the nomination of a new CNE until after the December 2005 election. Democracy anyone?
2) Lucena is already anticipating the backlash of her "election". Today, contrary to what a new president of the CNE would do in his/her first speech, to discuss new plans or to simply thank the people who entrusted to her the job, she already defended her administration even though she was not sworn in yet as the president! The lady does protest too much!!!......
3) According to Sumate, a majority of the new CNE are direct underlings of departing head Jorge Rodriguez. The mafia is solidly in place.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Tibisay Lucena. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Tibisay Lucena. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Flowers and letters: no romance for the revolutionary corpse
It is hard to underestimate the weigh of this week's events on an agonizing Maduro's headed regime. Even your prudent blogger is cautiously allowing himself to believe that yes, indeed, the regime's life should be counted in weeks... Or that at the very least a major change is just around the corner.
The week started with the reply sent to Tibisay Lucena by OAS Secretary Luis Almagro. See, Almagro got really upset about the flippancy of Tibisay Lucena, head of the CNE, Venezuela's electoral board. The woman, on orders from the regime that she is only too happy to oblige, is refusing ANY supervision to the crucial electoral process coming on December 6.
The week started with the reply sent to Tibisay Lucena by OAS Secretary Luis Almagro. See, Almagro got really upset about the flippancy of Tibisay Lucena, head of the CNE, Venezuela's electoral board. The woman, on orders from the regime that she is only too happy to oblige, is refusing ANY supervision to the crucial electoral process coming on December 6.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Electoral fraud mode confirmed: it is in who voted, how many times they voted, where they voted
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| Wrecking her life work at the very end, and in pink innocent girl! |
What are the implications?
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Comunicado de la MUD sobre las elecciones anunciadas para San Cristóbal y San Diego
En el día de hoy la señora Tibisay Lucena ha anunciado que el CNE convocará a elecciones para nuevos alcaldes en San Cristóbal y San Diego. Con toda responsabilidad la Mesa de la Unidad Democrática no reconocerá dichas elecciones y hará todo cuanto esta en su poder para evitarlas.
La señora Tibisay Lucena peca de dos maneras graves en su anuncio.
La señora Tibisay Lucena peca de dos maneras graves en su anuncio.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
ELECTIONWATCH - UPDATE
by Alex Beech
I'll finish on this historical day by reporting that Manuel Rosales conceded defeat earlier tonight. He claimed the margin released by the CNE was a lie, but didn't elaborate further. I find it ironic that as two icons of Latin American politics, Castro on the left and Pinochet on the right, are dead or dying, Hugo Chavez is elected to the presidency again. When I get sleep and distance from this, I'll figure it what that means. God bless everyone, and thanks for visiting us today!
9:05 pm - In its first bulletin, the CNE announced that Chavez won the election with 61.35% while Rosales obtained 38.39%.
8:00 pm est. - An hour ago, Reuters reported that "Chavez won 58 percent of the vote, while Manuel Rosales, governor of an oil-producing province, trailed with 40 percent, said Evans/McDonough Co., a U.S. pollster commissioned by the state oil company." This isn't the last word. Rumors are swirling around like stinky laundry water. Both sides are celebrating; some are claiming that a curfew is imminent. Rosales is expected to make a statement.
___________
8:00 pm est. - Two members of the Rosales camp denounced in the local media that Caracas-based Telesur, a government-financed news network, announced figures giving Chavez a victory. While Chavez has warned the private media that it would face repercussions if it released elections figures before the National Elections, a government-financed network violated electoral norms. The figures were announced by Telesur president and former Information Minister Andres Izarra, a former journalist who gained political prominence in the Chavez government after claiming that the Puente Llaguno shooters were not aiming at opposition protestors on April 11, 2002.
Information Minister Willian Lara, who arrived moments ago at the electoral council, said that he wasn’t there “as Information Minister, but as a Venezuelan citizen and an activist for the campaign of Hugo Chavez…I want to say on behalf of the Miranda campaign that it’s false that centers have been forced to re-open, violating electoral laws.” Despite credible reports by electoral observers that armed soldiers had forced centers to re-open , Minister Lara insisted that the Chavez campaign camp had not organized illegal voting efforts. “Tomorrow, at 8 am, I’ll be a government official again,” said Lara. “For now, I’m a citizen and a political activist.”
___________
7:20 pm est. In perhaps the first credible report of irregularities by an accredited electoral observer, Education Assembly member Leonardo Carvajal said two electoral officials had authorized him to denounce in the media that at several voting centers, armed members of the National Armed Forces had forced electoral workers to keep centers open. At one center, a soldier bearing a machine gun ordered the center to remain open until 9 pm, violating electoral laws.
________
6:55 pm est. Speaking on behalf of opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, Tal Cual Editor Teodoro Petkoff, said that while the electoral day proceeded peacefully, questionable incidents had taken place after official voting, such as attempts to impede audits and to remove the voting materials illegally. Petkoff said that “centers which have been closed must remain closed. They cannot be reopened.” He called on the National Elections Council and the National Armed Forces to enforce the law, protecting “voters’ rights.” He said “the auditing process is slow…patience is required.”
__________
6:05 pm est. Alex's opinion: If the complaints of irregularities keep pouring in, (and they are, at least on Globovision), it is likely that the Rosales camp won't accept a result that favors the government. No matter how much the electoral authorities and government spin the day, many questionable incidents are being reported.
__________
5:55 pm est. - Reading off a list of voting centers, Rosales campaign representative Eliseo Fermin said that members of the National Armed Forces at several centers violated electoral laws by re-opening centers once they had closed. Earlier, CNE chief Tibisay Lucena said that once centers had closed, voting could not resume. Fermin told reporters that buses (some military) had arrived at several closed centers in Caracas carrying voters. Threatened by armed soldiers, electoral workers re-opened the centers to allow the arriving voters to cast their ballots. Addressing the complaints, electoral official Vicente Diaz said that "everything is normal...in the country."
__________
4:40 pm est. - Enrique Marquez, a member of the Rosales campaign, denounced on television that soldiers at several voting centers had refused to allow electoral authorities to close them despite a lack of voters. CNE chief Tibisay Lucena earlier announced that, according to electoral laws, empty voting centers must close at 4 pm.
---------
4:10 pm est. - During a press conference at the National Elections Council (CNE) at 5:10 pm, CNE chief Tibisay Lucena said that the voting process had officially “culminated." She said that one thousand centers were already transmitting results. She said that once a center had been closed, voting could not resume. She reminded the heads of centers to remain at the centers to wait for the random selection of ballots for audits. She reminded the soldiers guarding the centers to stay for the remainder of the process. Addressing a reporter's question, she said that she didn’t know what percentage of registered voters participated in the election. Regarding complaints, she said the CNE received a “great number” of complaints regarding the process, which she claimed had been addressed for the most part. She said that the CNE was prohibited from issuing briefings while the vote was taking place. She added that at 9:30 am, 99% of centers were open, and by 10 am, 100% were open. She said she didn’t know yet what percentage of voting machines malfunctioned during the vote. Concerning a question by the Associated Press concerning malfunctions in the fingerprint detection technology, she denied that any problems surfaced with the new technology itself. She said the problem was based on the fact that “a lot of people voted.” She denied any problems with the voting machines, alluding earlier complaints that some paper ballots were blank.
----------
3:40 pm est. - During a press conference at the National Armed Forces, General Wilfredo Silva said that the election a success. He said that by 8 am, voting centers around the country were prepared for the vote, breaking a record. He confirmed the arrest of one soldier in Valencia who was wanted by the authorities, though he didn’t provide further details. Concerning reports that Colombians were crossing the border, he said “security at the borders, air space, and seas hasn’t changed. Things have evolved normally, with a slight increase in security.” He said that “small incidents” had taken place at several centers, including people who tried to vote several times, and two people who destroyed voting machines. He said that several were detained for breaking machines and tearing up their electoral ballots. He confirmed that men on motorcycles wearing pro-Chavez shirts had ridden by centers intimidating voters. He said that he’d spoken to leaders from both camps to address that issue. He said he’d enjoyed a “courtesy” visit from Chavez and his family. Addressing a question regarding the closure of a center where voters were stills standing in line, he clarified that voting stations within centers may close, but that “As long as people are standing in line, voting centers must remain open”. He said that the so-called Plan Republica will function while voting continues. He added that once an audit has taken place, ballot boxes will be handed over to the National Armed Forces, which will transport the boxes to the National Elections Council.
----------
3:30 est. - Since 4 pm came and went in Venezuela, the most important news to report is that at 4pm, any empty voting centers were supposed to close. The ones with voters standing in line will remain open until voters have voted. An elections official acknowledged that several voting machines had malfunctioned.
3:30 est. - During a press conference which took place at 4:30 pm in Caracas, Rosales campaign representatives called for calm, and asked the military to protect the electoral process from those who "want to alter the order." Omar Barboza said the opposition planned to "defend the people's will." Rosales campaign head Leopoldo Lopez said "the process will now begin to end...but we want to be clear. We will now audit 54% of the ballot boxes. Our witnesses will be there to open the boxes." He called the military to ensure the safety of the witnesses. "The process begins with the audit," he said. "In the name of Manuel Rosales, congratulations, Venezuela."
Voting is still taking place at centers around the country.
__________
1:10 est. - The biggest complaint reported by voters thus far has been the extreme slowness of lines created by the fingerprint detection technology. Several voters said they’d been standing in lines since dawn. In several centers, voters complained of malfunctioning voting machines. In at least one center, voting hadn’t started. In some centers, voters chanted, “queremos votar,” or “we want to vote.” One opposition representative said on Globovision news network that the National Guard was turning a blind eye to the “thousands” of Colombian-Venezuelans who were crossing the border to vote. (The local media has not provided any images or evidence of this complaint.)
Muslim (or Orthodox Jewish) moment of the day: In one voting center in Margarita Island, a soldier divided voters by gender. Standing in line, one man said that he and his wife were taking part in “conjugal visits”, wandering over to each other once in a while.
----------
Following his vote, incumbent Hugo Chavez said "this is a great day for democracy"." He mentioned a new column which Noam Chomsky will write for the most widely read Venezuelan daily newspaper, Ultimas Noticias. When asked about earlier comments made by opposition candidate regarding irregularities in certain voting centers, Chavez said, "I hope that those who are already feeling defeated...aren't getting balls rolling without evidence." Further, he said that complaints made by "one of the candidates could be very negative." Throughout the campaign, Chavez has refused to acknowledge the principal opposition contender, Manuel Rosales, never mentioning him by name.
Chavez said he planned to spend the rest of the day at the Miraflores presidential palace working, "making government decisions", accompanied by family and some ministers. There, he said he would wait for the results announced by the National Elections Council. He called on Venezuelans to vote.
Surreal Moment: Greater Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto screamed at voters standing in line at the center where he cast his ballot. He demanded "respect", claiming that some in the crowd has called him a "homosexual and drunk." He said he would arrest anyone who disrespected him. When he asked those who supported him to clap, attempting to show that a "majority" supported him, a few languidly applauded.
Surreal question of the moment: During the press conference, the final question came from a Japanese reporter, who asked Chavez how he planned to engage with North Korea. "With all countries," Chavez answered. "we have cooperation. I understand why you're asking your question because of where you're from...for us, the focus you're giving it is not relevant."
___________
10:20 est. Elections official Sandra Oblitas called on all "political actors" to refrain from making statements in the media which could create "perturbances," alluding to opposition candidate Manuel Rosales' earlier complaint. The rectors emphasized that blank ballots are due to voter error. Elections official Vicente Diaz explained in detail why the machines print blank ballots, and gave explicit instructions on how to vote. A local reporter insisted that voters complained that they had voted correctly, and still received a blank ballots. Official Janeth Hernandez insisted that the machines were certified by technicians, and members of all political sides. She said there is "no possibility" that the machines could be printing blank ballots.
When a reporter questioned complaints that the indelible ink used in the vote could be washed off with clorox, (allowing voters to vote more than once), rector Vicente Diaz said the Elections Council had purchased the ink from the Central University, as customary.
Chavez Votes
At 10:23 est. (11:23 in Venezuela), incumbent Hugh Chavez arrived at the Manuel Palacios Fajardo in the 23rd of Enero neighborhood to cast his ballot. Wearing a red shirt, he greeted supporters as he pushed his way through the crowd.
My petty comment of the hour: CNE rector Janeth Hernandez would look great in a 70's inspired roller derby film.
___________
9:45 est. - After exiting the voting center in Zula state where he cast his ballot, opposition candidate Manuel Rosales expressed concern that the fingerprint technology was "strangely" malfunctioning at some centers located in opposition strongholds. He said his camp received reports from supporters who complained that their voting machines printed blank ballots after they voted for him. He also praised the work of the military during the electoral process, and called on Venezuelans to vote.
While there are scattered reports of malfunctioning voting machines, most complaints reported in the media centered around the slowness of the process.
Please note a one hour time difference between New York and Caracas
I'll finish on this historical day by reporting that Manuel Rosales conceded defeat earlier tonight. He claimed the margin released by the CNE was a lie, but didn't elaborate further. I find it ironic that as two icons of Latin American politics, Castro on the left and Pinochet on the right, are dead or dying, Hugo Chavez is elected to the presidency again. When I get sleep and distance from this, I'll figure it what that means. God bless everyone, and thanks for visiting us today!
9:05 pm - In its first bulletin, the CNE announced that Chavez won the election with 61.35% while Rosales obtained 38.39%.
8:00 pm est. - An hour ago, Reuters reported that "Chavez won 58 percent of the vote, while Manuel Rosales, governor of an oil-producing province, trailed with 40 percent, said Evans/McDonough Co., a U.S. pollster commissioned by the state oil company." This isn't the last word. Rumors are swirling around like stinky laundry water. Both sides are celebrating; some are claiming that a curfew is imminent. Rosales is expected to make a statement.
___________
8:00 pm est. - Two members of the Rosales camp denounced in the local media that Caracas-based Telesur, a government-financed news network, announced figures giving Chavez a victory. While Chavez has warned the private media that it would face repercussions if it released elections figures before the National Elections, a government-financed network violated electoral norms. The figures were announced by Telesur president and former Information Minister Andres Izarra, a former journalist who gained political prominence in the Chavez government after claiming that the Puente Llaguno shooters were not aiming at opposition protestors on April 11, 2002.
Information Minister Willian Lara, who arrived moments ago at the electoral council, said that he wasn’t there “as Information Minister, but as a Venezuelan citizen and an activist for the campaign of Hugo Chavez…I want to say on behalf of the Miranda campaign that it’s false that centers have been forced to re-open, violating electoral laws.” Despite credible reports by electoral observers that armed soldiers had forced centers to re-open , Minister Lara insisted that the Chavez campaign camp had not organized illegal voting efforts. “Tomorrow, at 8 am, I’ll be a government official again,” said Lara. “For now, I’m a citizen and a political activist.”
___________
7:20 pm est. In perhaps the first credible report of irregularities by an accredited electoral observer, Education Assembly member Leonardo Carvajal said two electoral officials had authorized him to denounce in the media that at several voting centers, armed members of the National Armed Forces had forced electoral workers to keep centers open. At one center, a soldier bearing a machine gun ordered the center to remain open until 9 pm, violating electoral laws.
________
6:55 pm est. Speaking on behalf of opposition candidate Manuel Rosales, Tal Cual Editor Teodoro Petkoff, said that while the electoral day proceeded peacefully, questionable incidents had taken place after official voting, such as attempts to impede audits and to remove the voting materials illegally. Petkoff said that “centers which have been closed must remain closed. They cannot be reopened.” He called on the National Elections Council and the National Armed Forces to enforce the law, protecting “voters’ rights.” He said “the auditing process is slow…patience is required.”
__________
6:05 pm est. Alex's opinion: If the complaints of irregularities keep pouring in, (and they are, at least on Globovision), it is likely that the Rosales camp won't accept a result that favors the government. No matter how much the electoral authorities and government spin the day, many questionable incidents are being reported.
__________
5:55 pm est. - Reading off a list of voting centers, Rosales campaign representative Eliseo Fermin said that members of the National Armed Forces at several centers violated electoral laws by re-opening centers once they had closed. Earlier, CNE chief Tibisay Lucena said that once centers had closed, voting could not resume. Fermin told reporters that buses (some military) had arrived at several closed centers in Caracas carrying voters. Threatened by armed soldiers, electoral workers re-opened the centers to allow the arriving voters to cast their ballots. Addressing the complaints, electoral official Vicente Diaz said that "everything is normal...in the country."
__________
4:40 pm est. - Enrique Marquez, a member of the Rosales campaign, denounced on television that soldiers at several voting centers had refused to allow electoral authorities to close them despite a lack of voters. CNE chief Tibisay Lucena earlier announced that, according to electoral laws, empty voting centers must close at 4 pm.
---------
4:10 pm est. - During a press conference at the National Elections Council (CNE) at 5:10 pm, CNE chief Tibisay Lucena said that the voting process had officially “culminated." She said that one thousand centers were already transmitting results. She said that once a center had been closed, voting could not resume. She reminded the heads of centers to remain at the centers to wait for the random selection of ballots for audits. She reminded the soldiers guarding the centers to stay for the remainder of the process. Addressing a reporter's question, she said that she didn’t know what percentage of registered voters participated in the election. Regarding complaints, she said the CNE received a “great number” of complaints regarding the process, which she claimed had been addressed for the most part. She said that the CNE was prohibited from issuing briefings while the vote was taking place. She added that at 9:30 am, 99% of centers were open, and by 10 am, 100% were open. She said she didn’t know yet what percentage of voting machines malfunctioned during the vote. Concerning a question by the Associated Press concerning malfunctions in the fingerprint detection technology, she denied that any problems surfaced with the new technology itself. She said the problem was based on the fact that “a lot of people voted.” She denied any problems with the voting machines, alluding earlier complaints that some paper ballots were blank.
----------
3:40 pm est. - During a press conference at the National Armed Forces, General Wilfredo Silva said that the election a success. He said that by 8 am, voting centers around the country were prepared for the vote, breaking a record. He confirmed the arrest of one soldier in Valencia who was wanted by the authorities, though he didn’t provide further details. Concerning reports that Colombians were crossing the border, he said “security at the borders, air space, and seas hasn’t changed. Things have evolved normally, with a slight increase in security.” He said that “small incidents” had taken place at several centers, including people who tried to vote several times, and two people who destroyed voting machines. He said that several were detained for breaking machines and tearing up their electoral ballots. He confirmed that men on motorcycles wearing pro-Chavez shirts had ridden by centers intimidating voters. He said that he’d spoken to leaders from both camps to address that issue. He said he’d enjoyed a “courtesy” visit from Chavez and his family. Addressing a question regarding the closure of a center where voters were stills standing in line, he clarified that voting stations within centers may close, but that “As long as people are standing in line, voting centers must remain open”. He said that the so-called Plan Republica will function while voting continues. He added that once an audit has taken place, ballot boxes will be handed over to the National Armed Forces, which will transport the boxes to the National Elections Council.
----------
3:30 est. - Since 4 pm came and went in Venezuela, the most important news to report is that at 4pm, any empty voting centers were supposed to close. The ones with voters standing in line will remain open until voters have voted. An elections official acknowledged that several voting machines had malfunctioned.
3:30 est. - During a press conference which took place at 4:30 pm in Caracas, Rosales campaign representatives called for calm, and asked the military to protect the electoral process from those who "want to alter the order." Omar Barboza said the opposition planned to "defend the people's will." Rosales campaign head Leopoldo Lopez said "the process will now begin to end...but we want to be clear. We will now audit 54% of the ballot boxes. Our witnesses will be there to open the boxes." He called the military to ensure the safety of the witnesses. "The process begins with the audit," he said. "In the name of Manuel Rosales, congratulations, Venezuela."
Voting is still taking place at centers around the country.
__________
1:10 est. - The biggest complaint reported by voters thus far has been the extreme slowness of lines created by the fingerprint detection technology. Several voters said they’d been standing in lines since dawn. In several centers, voters complained of malfunctioning voting machines. In at least one center, voting hadn’t started. In some centers, voters chanted, “queremos votar,” or “we want to vote.” One opposition representative said on Globovision news network that the National Guard was turning a blind eye to the “thousands” of Colombian-Venezuelans who were crossing the border to vote. (The local media has not provided any images or evidence of this complaint.)
Muslim (or Orthodox Jewish) moment of the day: In one voting center in Margarita Island, a soldier divided voters by gender. Standing in line, one man said that he and his wife were taking part in “conjugal visits”, wandering over to each other once in a while.
----------
Following his vote, incumbent Hugo Chavez said "this is a great day for democracy"." He mentioned a new column which Noam Chomsky will write for the most widely read Venezuelan daily newspaper, Ultimas Noticias. When asked about earlier comments made by opposition candidate regarding irregularities in certain voting centers, Chavez said, "I hope that those who are already feeling defeated...aren't getting balls rolling without evidence." Further, he said that complaints made by "one of the candidates could be very negative." Throughout the campaign, Chavez has refused to acknowledge the principal opposition contender, Manuel Rosales, never mentioning him by name.
Chavez said he planned to spend the rest of the day at the Miraflores presidential palace working, "making government decisions", accompanied by family and some ministers. There, he said he would wait for the results announced by the National Elections Council. He called on Venezuelans to vote.
Surreal Moment: Greater Metropolitan Caracas Mayor Juan Barreto screamed at voters standing in line at the center where he cast his ballot. He demanded "respect", claiming that some in the crowd has called him a "homosexual and drunk." He said he would arrest anyone who disrespected him. When he asked those who supported him to clap, attempting to show that a "majority" supported him, a few languidly applauded.
Surreal question of the moment: During the press conference, the final question came from a Japanese reporter, who asked Chavez how he planned to engage with North Korea. "With all countries," Chavez answered. "we have cooperation. I understand why you're asking your question because of where you're from...for us, the focus you're giving it is not relevant."
___________
10:20 est. Elections official Sandra Oblitas called on all "political actors" to refrain from making statements in the media which could create "perturbances," alluding to opposition candidate Manuel Rosales' earlier complaint. The rectors emphasized that blank ballots are due to voter error. Elections official Vicente Diaz explained in detail why the machines print blank ballots, and gave explicit instructions on how to vote. A local reporter insisted that voters complained that they had voted correctly, and still received a blank ballots. Official Janeth Hernandez insisted that the machines were certified by technicians, and members of all political sides. She said there is "no possibility" that the machines could be printing blank ballots.
When a reporter questioned complaints that the indelible ink used in the vote could be washed off with clorox, (allowing voters to vote more than once), rector Vicente Diaz said the Elections Council had purchased the ink from the Central University, as customary.
Chavez Votes
At 10:23 est. (11:23 in Venezuela), incumbent Hugh Chavez arrived at the Manuel Palacios Fajardo in the 23rd of Enero neighborhood to cast his ballot. Wearing a red shirt, he greeted supporters as he pushed his way through the crowd.
My petty comment of the hour: CNE rector Janeth Hernandez would look great in a 70's inspired roller derby film.
___________
9:45 est. - After exiting the voting center in Zula state where he cast his ballot, opposition candidate Manuel Rosales expressed concern that the fingerprint technology was "strangely" malfunctioning at some centers located in opposition strongholds. He said his camp received reports from supporters who complained that their voting machines printed blank ballots after they voted for him. He also praised the work of the military during the electoral process, and called on Venezuelans to vote.
While there are scattered reports of malfunctioning voting machines, most complaints reported in the media centered around the slowness of the process.
Please note a one hour time difference between New York and Caracas
Tags:
Tuesday, August 09, 2016
Recall Election all but over
Today the head of the electoral board, CNE, Tibisay Lucena announced that "if all goes well" the gathering of the 20% signature from the registered electors could take place late October. TRANSLATION: even if the 20% is gathered late October there will not be enough time to fend off legal challenges so that the Recall Election is held before January 10 2017. If the recall election is held after that date and even if 90% vote to oust Maduro, his serving vice-president will replace in office to complete the two years in the presidential term.
In other words the regime has announced that there is no way they will risk a presidential election before December 2018. And if you still do not get it, the current cabinet of musical chairs will remain presiding over the country until January 2019 at the earliest.
In other words the regime has announced that there is no way they will risk a presidential election before December 2018. And if you still do not get it, the current cabinet of musical chairs will remain presiding over the country until January 2019 at the earliest.
Friday, April 10, 2015
Fake signatures in lieu of votes, popular clamor in lieu of democracy
So Maduro will present 10 or 13 or 3 million signatures in Panama today. To Obama, to the public or to the dumpster. Does it matter?
The shame has continued unabated. Even my personal one. I have almost forced my S.O., a sickly public worker, to go an sign the Maduro farce in a way to be seen by his co-workers, to make sure he does not raise any suspicion at work, to make sure he does not compromise his job, to make sure he does not risk his health insurance. We are not proud but we live in a dictatorship. I can afford not to sign, he cannot because my means do not allow me to support him financially 100%, the more so that the bolivarian revolution is homophobic and contrary to many other LatAm countries has no provision for same sex couples so I cannot put him on my insurance, my retirement, my inheritance, etc. In many other countries there are such possibilities now, but bolivarian Venezuela is probably the most backward country now in South America. Then again homophobia is but one of the many tools of subjection available to fascism.
But my personal shame made me digress.
 |
| Sending the message that votes are unnecessary |
The shame has continued unabated. Even my personal one. I have almost forced my S.O., a sickly public worker, to go an sign the Maduro farce in a way to be seen by his co-workers, to make sure he does not raise any suspicion at work, to make sure he does not compromise his job, to make sure he does not risk his health insurance. We are not proud but we live in a dictatorship. I can afford not to sign, he cannot because my means do not allow me to support him financially 100%, the more so that the bolivarian revolution is homophobic and contrary to many other LatAm countries has no provision for same sex couples so I cannot put him on my insurance, my retirement, my inheritance, etc. In many other countries there are such possibilities now, but bolivarian Venezuela is probably the most backward country now in South America. Then again homophobia is but one of the many tools of subjection available to fascism.
But my personal shame made me digress.
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Falcon Crest? Millennium Falcon? The Maltese one?
Good news guys, the inscription for presidential election is over, we know all the names. They are all chavistas. Even if the propaganda network TeleSur says without blushing that the opposition has registered ITS candidate under the name of Henri Falcon.
So many things wrong with that picture......
La oposición tiene su candidato. #VenezuelaDecide pic.twitter.com/761XdvCFh6— Patricia Villegas (@pvillegas_tlSUR) February 27, 2018
So many things wrong with that picture......
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Chavismo paratroopers
So today about 300 hundred students tried to go to the CNE, Venezuelan electoral board, a.k.a Electoral Ministry, to present complaints and requests on the electoral abuse of the regime. Not that anyone was expecting Chavez election minister Tibisay Lucena to comply, but it would have been nice for a change that she dispatched a secretary to receive the letter. Or at least earlier than what she eventually did.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
The problems in the Venezuelan electoral system (part 3)
The not so real problem
The CNE question
THE Venezuelan electoral board, the now infamous CNE, remains THE issue. Serious polls show that the CNE is one of the least trusted institutions of the country. At least through the opposition electorate there is no trust that one’s vote is actually counted. The act of voting has become meaningless for a majority of the country. Natural abstention had climbed from the 40% when Chavez arrived: now it floats close to 80%. Running a campaign is very difficult when people think that the umpire is sold out to the Miraflores side. Volunteers and donations are hard to come in such cases as people, understandably, do not want to waste their time or money.
Last week were sworn in the 5 new board members, 4 for Chavez and one supposedly not from Chavez. Well, all five of them come from a very leftist background, as inquired by Tal Cual, and the supposed 5th member who tokenly represents the opposition might not be such. I would dare to say that the balance of power in that new CNE is not 4 to 1 but rather 4 to 0 (1).
Does it matter?
First, who thought that Chavez would accept a CNE that would be fair and balanced? Whoever deluded him or herself into thinking that a 3 to 2 CNE would be named is now cruelly disappointed. I am not. I am actually surprised that they did not go ahead and set up a straight 5 to 0. But I suppose that outside projection still matters some to chavismo. Further, the preliminary declarations of three of the new arrivals have confirmed to the country that they want to pursue the Rodriguez policies: finger printing machines, no manual ballot counting, limited auditing, etc… Trust in the system is not coming back anytime soon.
This being said it does not matter as chavismo has amply demonstrated that it does not play by the democratic rule of respect to minority rights, minorities (?) which are at best tolerated until the time comes to dispose of them one way or another (as it has been seen for the “minorities” within chavismo, disposed off on the first opportunity). Thus a 3 to 2 CNE would have behaved exactly as a 4 to 1 or 5 to 0: nothing would happen at the CNE of real importance that it is not approved by Chavez. Wasting time discussing as to whether Jorge Rodriguez is controlling the CNE through Tibisay Lucena is a waste of time, totally irrelevant. Tibisay Lucena is controlled by Chavez, as well as at least 3 other members. That the line of command might go through Rodriguez is ancillary evidence. The CNE is a partial umpire that roots for the Miraflores team and there is nothing that can be done nicely to convince them to rise above their moral mediocrity.
Legalities are just a political problem
The way the CNE acts is through a variety of legal artifices that border legality and sometimes breach it. SUMATE and others such as the European Union have observed plenty of such instances. If SUMATE has a whole catalogue of them, the EU guys, for example, were astounded at how voting hours were manipulated and how strangely voting increased in some places during that extension. Had it not been for that irregularity, the official abstention result for 2005 might have been up to 5 points higher!
The CNE is backed by a whole bunch of seedy lawyers which make the 1999 Florida ones look like babies in diapers. Any rule that might be bent to accommodate irate opposition candidates is quickly circumvented by a new rule. Or, even better, a given concession comes in too late to have any effect on the ongoing campaign and electoral process.
But all of these are simply a decoy behind which chavismo hides to justify its abuses, including those detailed earlier in these texts such as illegal state financing. The real problem here is a political problem and its solution must be a political solution that can go above the law if needed. After all the law is Chavez and he can change it as he wills.
How to deal with the CNE
I am allowing myself to digress some here from the intent of this series of post: my intention is simply to illustrate the ways into Chavez and his followers have gutted elections of their meaning (Castro himself said that elections were a waste of time and Chavez did side with that thought during his early political years when he preached abstention). But by describing ways in which the CNE can be confronted I hope to illustrate the turpitude that resides in the CNE main seat.
The solution against the fraudulent CNE machinery is elsewhere: confronting the CNE with reasonable demands, properly documented in front of international observers, setting a deadline for those demands to be fulfilled, explain to all why, and then forget abut the CNE. Let SUMATE deal with the CNE and go out motivate voters, rouse the country. When the dead line comes, then we will see.
What is important is that the opposition does not get mired in a sterile debate about naming a suitable CNE: it is not going to happen the good way. For memory, the Chavez named CNE of 1999 failed miserably in organizing the 2000 May election. These had to be suddenly postponed to August and in the debacle a new CNE was named on the spot. This could happen any time before December 2006 if the political situation does require it. To get rid of Chavez, who cares if elections are postponed by a couple of months!
I am allowing myself to offer a concrete plan. I am sure, I truly hope, that political “experts” in the opposition can come up with something much better.
Step 1. Have all presidential candidates gather and name a commission which includes, or, even better, is led, by SUMATE. Name it officially as your link to the CNE. Confront the CNE with its unwillingness to deal with SUMATE and measure their mettle. Force a political crisis if necessary right now if the CNE refuses to receive your representatives and SUMATE. Since SUMATE is included among others, the CNE should yield. You provide a face saving device by mixing up your representation with SUMATE and SUMATE walks in.
Step 2. Set clear and precise conditions to participate and set a deadline(s). An early deadline should at least be set as to what pertains the campaign process. The CNE will try to dodge the issue and then concede it when it will be meaningless, in front of observers so as to look good. Opposition candidates need to have at least 2 months of real campaign. September 1 should be a goal for certain changes such as a better control of public finances, access to state media and access to the electoral rolls to check for fraud there or target electors the way chavismo is doing (the chavista camp has all the info the CNE is refusing to yield to the opposition, make no mistake: chavismo claims they just “got it” by chance through the signature processes or “leaks”).
Step 3. While opposition candidate(s) campaigns discuss the actual voting process in the background (do not let it become the campaign theme). Be it the finger printing machines, or the voting audit range, make sure to reach an agreement at least 3 full weeks before election. To withdraw from the election is it essential that it is made early enough to make sure two things: 1) that Chavez is uncomfortably alone long enough on the trail to start looking ridiculous and 2) to have time to organize a quick abstention campaign. But this deadline should be short enough to make sure that Chavez does not have time to add a surprise move such as putting on the ballot a referendum.
In other words it is essential that the opposition candidates maintain the CNE on the defensive. And there are ways to do that, one of them is limited and strong negotiation that the CNE cannot afford to break at this point.
Conclusion 3
The CNE is the boogey man displayed by chavismo to hide the real problems of Venezuelan elections: the unfair state advantage in financing all sorts of vote buying social programs (“Mision Spigot” as Francisco Toro calls them); the unfair state advantage in financing the Chavez campaign itself; the legal and emotional set up to hinder the opposition campaign against Chavez. In front of that strategy the CNE is a mere agent.
Besides, directing complaints against the CNE is a waste of time for an additional reason: there is no certainty at all that Chavez wants an election come December. All the recent activities and provocations, from Peru to Tibisay Lucena at the CNE head, indicate that Chavez might be looking for a conflict that will serve as an excuse to take away cumbersome electoral processes which absence in Cuba has never stopped Fidel from being received as a dignitary by more than a sucker. This blogger is not adverse at thinking that Chavez wants to force the opposition out of the electoral arena, and if a conflict with the opposition or the Empire is needed, so be it. But there is no way that Chavez will ever again run in a free and fair election.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
1) Carlos Blanco in el Universal of Sunday does get that 4 to 0 count. I did write it in an early draft before I read it there. I report this in case someone read the Blanco column, not to state who got the idea first, but rather to amuse myself with the cliché “Great minds think alike”.
(RETURN to entry post)
The CNE question
THE Venezuelan electoral board, the now infamous CNE, remains THE issue. Serious polls show that the CNE is one of the least trusted institutions of the country. At least through the opposition electorate there is no trust that one’s vote is actually counted. The act of voting has become meaningless for a majority of the country. Natural abstention had climbed from the 40% when Chavez arrived: now it floats close to 80%. Running a campaign is very difficult when people think that the umpire is sold out to the Miraflores side. Volunteers and donations are hard to come in such cases as people, understandably, do not want to waste their time or money.
Last week were sworn in the 5 new board members, 4 for Chavez and one supposedly not from Chavez. Well, all five of them come from a very leftist background, as inquired by Tal Cual, and the supposed 5th member who tokenly represents the opposition might not be such. I would dare to say that the balance of power in that new CNE is not 4 to 1 but rather 4 to 0 (1).
Does it matter?
First, who thought that Chavez would accept a CNE that would be fair and balanced? Whoever deluded him or herself into thinking that a 3 to 2 CNE would be named is now cruelly disappointed. I am not. I am actually surprised that they did not go ahead and set up a straight 5 to 0. But I suppose that outside projection still matters some to chavismo. Further, the preliminary declarations of three of the new arrivals have confirmed to the country that they want to pursue the Rodriguez policies: finger printing machines, no manual ballot counting, limited auditing, etc… Trust in the system is not coming back anytime soon.
This being said it does not matter as chavismo has amply demonstrated that it does not play by the democratic rule of respect to minority rights, minorities (?) which are at best tolerated until the time comes to dispose of them one way or another (as it has been seen for the “minorities” within chavismo, disposed off on the first opportunity). Thus a 3 to 2 CNE would have behaved exactly as a 4 to 1 or 5 to 0: nothing would happen at the CNE of real importance that it is not approved by Chavez. Wasting time discussing as to whether Jorge Rodriguez is controlling the CNE through Tibisay Lucena is a waste of time, totally irrelevant. Tibisay Lucena is controlled by Chavez, as well as at least 3 other members. That the line of command might go through Rodriguez is ancillary evidence. The CNE is a partial umpire that roots for the Miraflores team and there is nothing that can be done nicely to convince them to rise above their moral mediocrity.
Legalities are just a political problem
The way the CNE acts is through a variety of legal artifices that border legality and sometimes breach it. SUMATE and others such as the European Union have observed plenty of such instances. If SUMATE has a whole catalogue of them, the EU guys, for example, were astounded at how voting hours were manipulated and how strangely voting increased in some places during that extension. Had it not been for that irregularity, the official abstention result for 2005 might have been up to 5 points higher!
The CNE is backed by a whole bunch of seedy lawyers which make the 1999 Florida ones look like babies in diapers. Any rule that might be bent to accommodate irate opposition candidates is quickly circumvented by a new rule. Or, even better, a given concession comes in too late to have any effect on the ongoing campaign and electoral process.
But all of these are simply a decoy behind which chavismo hides to justify its abuses, including those detailed earlier in these texts such as illegal state financing. The real problem here is a political problem and its solution must be a political solution that can go above the law if needed. After all the law is Chavez and he can change it as he wills.
How to deal with the CNE
I am allowing myself to digress some here from the intent of this series of post: my intention is simply to illustrate the ways into Chavez and his followers have gutted elections of their meaning (Castro himself said that elections were a waste of time and Chavez did side with that thought during his early political years when he preached abstention). But by describing ways in which the CNE can be confronted I hope to illustrate the turpitude that resides in the CNE main seat.
The solution against the fraudulent CNE machinery is elsewhere: confronting the CNE with reasonable demands, properly documented in front of international observers, setting a deadline for those demands to be fulfilled, explain to all why, and then forget abut the CNE. Let SUMATE deal with the CNE and go out motivate voters, rouse the country. When the dead line comes, then we will see.
What is important is that the opposition does not get mired in a sterile debate about naming a suitable CNE: it is not going to happen the good way. For memory, the Chavez named CNE of 1999 failed miserably in organizing the 2000 May election. These had to be suddenly postponed to August and in the debacle a new CNE was named on the spot. This could happen any time before December 2006 if the political situation does require it. To get rid of Chavez, who cares if elections are postponed by a couple of months!
I am allowing myself to offer a concrete plan. I am sure, I truly hope, that political “experts” in the opposition can come up with something much better.
Step 1. Have all presidential candidates gather and name a commission which includes, or, even better, is led, by SUMATE. Name it officially as your link to the CNE. Confront the CNE with its unwillingness to deal with SUMATE and measure their mettle. Force a political crisis if necessary right now if the CNE refuses to receive your representatives and SUMATE. Since SUMATE is included among others, the CNE should yield. You provide a face saving device by mixing up your representation with SUMATE and SUMATE walks in.
Step 2. Set clear and precise conditions to participate and set a deadline(s). An early deadline should at least be set as to what pertains the campaign process. The CNE will try to dodge the issue and then concede it when it will be meaningless, in front of observers so as to look good. Opposition candidates need to have at least 2 months of real campaign. September 1 should be a goal for certain changes such as a better control of public finances, access to state media and access to the electoral rolls to check for fraud there or target electors the way chavismo is doing (the chavista camp has all the info the CNE is refusing to yield to the opposition, make no mistake: chavismo claims they just “got it” by chance through the signature processes or “leaks”).
Step 3. While opposition candidate(s) campaigns discuss the actual voting process in the background (do not let it become the campaign theme). Be it the finger printing machines, or the voting audit range, make sure to reach an agreement at least 3 full weeks before election. To withdraw from the election is it essential that it is made early enough to make sure two things: 1) that Chavez is uncomfortably alone long enough on the trail to start looking ridiculous and 2) to have time to organize a quick abstention campaign. But this deadline should be short enough to make sure that Chavez does not have time to add a surprise move such as putting on the ballot a referendum.
In other words it is essential that the opposition candidates maintain the CNE on the defensive. And there are ways to do that, one of them is limited and strong negotiation that the CNE cannot afford to break at this point.
Conclusion 3
The CNE is the boogey man displayed by chavismo to hide the real problems of Venezuelan elections: the unfair state advantage in financing all sorts of vote buying social programs (“Mision Spigot” as Francisco Toro calls them); the unfair state advantage in financing the Chavez campaign itself; the legal and emotional set up to hinder the opposition campaign against Chavez. In front of that strategy the CNE is a mere agent.
Besides, directing complaints against the CNE is a waste of time for an additional reason: there is no certainty at all that Chavez wants an election come December. All the recent activities and provocations, from Peru to Tibisay Lucena at the CNE head, indicate that Chavez might be looking for a conflict that will serve as an excuse to take away cumbersome electoral processes which absence in Cuba has never stopped Fidel from being received as a dignitary by more than a sucker. This blogger is not adverse at thinking that Chavez wants to force the opposition out of the electoral arena, and if a conflict with the opposition or the Empire is needed, so be it. But there is no way that Chavez will ever again run in a free and fair election.
--- --- --- --- --- ---
1) Carlos Blanco in el Universal of Sunday does get that 4 to 0 count. I did write it in an early draft before I read it there. I report this in case someone read the Blanco column, not to state who got the idea first, but rather to amuse myself with the cliché “Great minds think alike”.
(RETURN to entry post)
Sunday, August 07, 2005
The Electoral Day post: boring Venezuelan local elections
Although I do not think it really worthwhile, I still will be write a post with a few updates through the day. From past experiences, I have found out that people do appreciate this type of info, in particular when they live overseas and cannot vote. And even if they live at home, just to see how voting is working elsewhere, from the point of view of the voter on the street...
9:30 AM
The day did not start very well. I stayed up late watching an old Bond flick on cable "You only live twice", but I am a sucker for Bond movies, even as they are now totally outdated technologically, when not downright silly. However they do reflect something of the times when they came out, something of what people thought the future would be. Bad Russians, not so good Americans (you needed ratings everywhere in the world) and of course rather nice and not as inconsequential as one would have thought Britishers.
Still, when the voting station close to my house opened the racket was enough to wake me up by 6 AM. At 7 AM, desperately tossing around to get back a couple more hours of sleep (it is Sunday after all) the "pregonera" (street peddler) of Yaracuy al Dia started screaming for people to get up and buy her papers. She never does it that early on Sundays! Yaracuy al Dia is the rather infamous pro Chavez paper and I suppose it is some sort of conspiracy to force chavistas to go out and vote.
Well, eventually I did manage to go back to sleep but by 8:30 I was up fixing the coffee pot and leaving to buy the Sunday papers: EL Universal, El Nacional and El Yaracuyano, the almost as infamous anti Chavez local paper that I feel compelled to buy on Sundays, as I cannot bring myself to buy Yaracuy al Dia anymore, too awful. I used to buy both, only on Sundays, but since the Recall Election I have stopped buying pro Chavez papers, as I have stopped watching VTV which I religiously watched, duty bound to inform myself and on occasion my readers. But after August I saw no point anymore in hearing or paying to read the eternal repeats, slogans and complaints of chavismo when I can get a quick summary anywhere else.
Thus on my way to the newspaper stand I passed in front of two deserted voting centers. I have been watching the one close to my home and indeed on occasion I can see someone coming in and out. But the main activity consists on two soldiers and one officer, in their really ugly new Cuban like drab olive uniforms. Boy, are they ugly!
For the record, in August 2004 the lines went completely around the block by 8 AM......
Abstention will be heavy, no matter what they say, even in Yaracuy who tends to vote more than other places. In fact I could not help but to observe that the lottery ticket shop two blocks away had more people than the voting station. Obviously people know where the odds of a better future lay.
2:10 PM
I have not voted yet. It is open until 4 PM.
Or is it?
Rodriguez, the CNE ineffable head with his crispating voice and tone has just announced that voting will be extended until 6 PM. "Due to weather and some logistical problems". Translation: chavismo has trouble to make their people vote and requested two more hours to improve the low participation numbers, as seen on TV. Indeed, the beaches in Caracas sea shore are full; the longest voting line I have seen so far on TV had no more than a half dozen people; here, across the street the situation is the same, people on occasion walk in. Even in October 31 2004, there was until around 1 PM a line of a dozen people. Today, no line, at all, at any given time. In fact the showing across is so poor that I have desisted to try to drive around and watch the other voting center: Globovision is not lying, it is showing what I see from my window.
Now, I will share a little bit of gossip. My S.O. in Caracas has decided not to vote though I am still working on it. However, my putative mother in law who has voted for Chavez every time announced today that she would vote for the Primero Justicia candidates. She lives downtown Caracas, in the Calcutta like city that Bernal has created. All her love for Chavez could not convince her to vote for Bernal candidates. The mess it too obvious, too many homeless, too much trash, too deficient a garbage collection system, too tired to have to be home at a curfew time imposed by crime, too tired of fighting with illegal peddlers for a path to walk on the side walks, etc, and more etc.... We are all in awe! My S.O. siblings have been deserting Chavez long ago (S.O. did vote for Chavez in 1998, first and last time, being even more of a against Chavez than I am, as I assume when one works as a public employee it is easier to watch the beast from inside). Oh well...
I suppose that I should brush my teeth and go vote. For the first time in my life I will be voting in an afternoon: I delighted so much in voting that I always was done by noon. But today it is a chore. By the way, I do not even know the names of my candidates, or what they stand for. It is enough for me to know that they will be defending the sitting mayor whose work is sort of OK. This is what Chavez has done to us, we vote against or for him. Even to sweep our streets. Period.
2:40 PM
I have been receiving messages from people working with Sumate and opposition observers. The numbers would be in the 10% participation around noon, chavismo having lots of trouble to drag their people to vote. Hence the voting extension? Naaahhhh.....
Another rumor is that there is a distribution of Mercal coupons and other goodies in order to convince folks to board the buses and go to vote. Heck, if Chavez gives me Mercal coupons I will go and vote right now!
There is also trouble in one of Carabobo townships, Miranda, where the mayor has to be voted again. Suddenly there were a few buses arriving FROM Valencia with Chavez supporters that have been switched to that district to vote. Imagine that!!!! Nothing on TV so far. So we will wait for final confirmation.
3:00 PM
The soldiers that are watching the voting center across my house are so bored that they are actually helping the rare people that show up to vote in looking for their name on the list. I do tell you ...
I also got preliminary confirmation for the Miranda incident but still nothing on TV.
I guess I am going to get ready now and go to vote and make a driving round of voting centers. See you around 4 PM.
3:50 PM
Actually it started raining so I postponed my voting. Which gave me time to scan TV, including VTV. Amazing!
Jorge Rodriguez just gave an extensive interview to Globovision!!! We all know where the ratings are when someone needs to have their message out!!!
VTV, the state TV, has a small panel of people, all wearing some red on them (very impartial of course). The background is a logo special for the day which looks more like a propaganda item about "popular democracy" than any serious newsy logo adequate for the day. And there are some people that till think that VTV has any objectivity in it. Of course the only long lines shown are those from Amazonas state where there are also governor elections and people are going out to vote. The rest? "people are voting, thank you very much!" and scarce images (you can always find in popular districts little lines of a dozen of people, and if you forget to mention that normally liens there are in the hundred, you might fool a few...
But the best was a William Lara interview, also on VTV. He recognized that although voting was high in popular districts [define high] the middle class and upper class sectors were showing large abstention! I mean, the guy has finally recognized that chavismo cannot count on the people that manage a modern economy!!!! No wonder inefficacy in government is reaching such dramatic levels!!! How come Lara is admitting such a thing!?
Now, before the pro abstention camp chants victory, I do not think that this abstention has anything to do with organization, it has to do with just "I have stopped caring" attitude. Let chavismo collapse on its own! The hole in Paracotos is the perfect omen....
Well, raining is stopping, I am off to vote now.
5:00 PM
I voted. It lasted a few minutes because there was no list of candidates anywhere and I wanted to check again as I am not voting straight ticket (I never vote straight ticket!). During all this time, including the time to consult the list that eventually was given to me from a non descript pile in a corner, my voting time, my complain that the vote I emitted could barely be read on the printed ticket (indeed, it would be very easy for a greasy thumb to smudge my vote and make it "null"), and some chit chat as to how many people came to vote, NO ONE ELSE came to vote at my table. Eventually one guy admitted that of the 500 plus registered voters for that table at around 4:30 barely a hundred had voted!!!! That makes, say, 150 voters in 10,5 hours of voting. 10 voters an hour!
On the way back I drove in front of several voting centers and there was little to no activity. Back home the one in front at the three soldiers at the door, chit chatting. No one inside.
We'll see.
5:50 PM
One of the CNE rectors, Tibisay Lucena, has just announced that due to voting lines and what not, voting has been extended until 7 PM!!!! Excuses, excuses!!! On TV, as I type, she is being questioned and she is answering rehearsed replies. Tibisay Lucena was at the Recall Election time a sub rector and the principal accomplice of Jorge Rodriguez in all the tricks that this one made at the time. She was duly recompensed by being promoted to full rector.
She is lying as far as I know. Only Amazonas has reported any significant lines and that is due that people are motivated there to vote for governor. In Globovision Roberto Giusti is already asking THE question: how come if through the whole day attendance was light, suddenly a few minutes before closing time people are rushing to vote and the CNE needs to keep voting centers open?
This is highly suspicious. I mean, if Tibisay Lucena were saying that in such and such state or city there was this and that problem and then they decided that in those states to keep voting stations open one extra hour, I could still buy it. But when challenged by a journalist she replied something like this: "well, you have limited rounds and we have a global picture. I know what I am talking about". And that is that, no further details!!! B.S.!!! Arrogance!!! Lucena is as usual up to all the tricks she has learned to apply for over a year now!!!
Sobella Mejias? Where are you? This is your chance to shine!!!! Or have you just become a Lucena?
6:22 PM
It did not last long. Primero Justicia has complained about the voting extension announcing that 98% of voting centers are empty and these ones should be closed right now. That there was absolutely no reason to keep them open as by law they should have been closed while the ones with people still voting can remain open as long as necessary by law.
Fraud anyone? As usual, it is the behavior of the CNE, the arrogance of its directors that is the main cause for suspicions. Do they do it on purpose or are they that arrogant?
Things are heating up.
TV, by the way finally showed up the fraud attempt in Miranda township of Carabobo. In other words, indeed, the CNE is being, charitably said, very lax with supervision. If not helping fraud all along. Even when they are winning!!!!!!! Since supposedly it is the opposition who is not voting. Go figure..... Union Radio carries interesting info on how things developed there where the burping governor behaves as your regular small town bad guy, un malandro forajido!
6:51 PM
Maybe I should change the title of this post. The day is turning out to become exciting as the evening progresses.
Sobella Mejias came out and I think I understood that she was not in agreement with the voting extension. Though as usual she tries not to engage herself in a decisive way.
As soon as she shut up, from Primero Justicia we hear that they consider that Mejias has announced that the extra voting is illegal and that they are leaving right then and there for the CNE to confront Rodriguez. I bet you that Rodriguez is going to hide (or already celebrating with Chavez that the strategy to promote abstention has worked and that 90% of municipal councilors are now in the hands of chavismo).
Now my question to all the abstention promoters. So you won, you got obviously one of the highest if not the highest abstention on Venezuelan records. But in a couple of weeks that 90% of chavista councilors will be sworn in and nobody is going, legally, to worry about it. Municipal orders will be voted and we will have to live with it.
So, dear abstentionists: what is the next move?
6:59 PM
Rodriguez on TV. Voting is closed. I suppose that Primero Justicia can go back home.
7:15 PM
I am listening to Jorge Rodriguez. He is completely outdone once again. Taking any criticism personally. Claiming that all he and the CNE did is perfect, that there is no reason whatsoever to complain.
And this used to make a living as a shrink? No wonder he switched to more lucrative activities....
Again, the arrogance of Rodriguez and the CNE is just astounding. And then they complain that so many people do not trust them? I, for one, could never trust Rodriguez. Nobody with such change of moods, so thin skinned, can be trusted in a position where there is so much pressure applied!
8:45 PM
This will probably be the last entry for today as no results will be published until the CNE gives its first official announcement. And there is no need for me to watch results that are meaningless anyway. It can wait for tomorrow. Though Sumate has made a very strong declaration accusing Rodriguez of being a liar, among other irregularities committed today by the CNE. So I might comeback for one last hurrah before going to bed as this unfolds.
However there is something I want to discuss tonight. I forgot to mention that my voting center had no "cazahuellas" whereas we had then in August and October 2004. I started thinking about it and I do not like what I am coming up with.
The "cazahuellas" are the controversial machines where an electronic finger print is taken just as in the US airports authorities do to incoming aliens. Maybe at an airport, but at a polling station? Where people who vote must dip a finger in a stinky ink? (I can smell my finger as type, in spite of thorough washing). And then, how come with so many reports of buying extra finger printing machines my voting center lost its own ones?
This is my explanation. The REAL REASON FOR THE FINGER PRINTING MACHINES is that they allow in real time the CNE to know who is voting and where. Considering the extensive data base on opposition electors courtesy to all these signatures, it is easy for the CNE to predict how the vote is doing and going (what happened on the Recall Election).
Today they knew that centers where the opposition is strong, such as my voting center, would vote lightly at most. What was worrying chavismo was the response of their own electors, the need to have a reasonable participation. Thus there was no need to monitor opposition sectors, to send needed help there to man crucial control tools. It is my theory, at this point, that cazahuellas were sent to all popular sectors, to make sure that the turn out of chavismo would be monitored real time, to give chavismo time to make corrections, to go and fetch their electors, be it from their good will or bribing them with Mercal tickets. How else can one explain that Rodriguez announced that turn out went up in the last two hours? And thus keeping up voting centers? There was no increase in Yaracuy turn out as far as I could see. So, where was that increase?
I am asking people who had cazahuellas in previous processes and not this time to write to Sumate and report it. This might be rather important, in particular if by December they force on us electronic elector registry which combined with voting machines, and cazahuellas could effectively blow away the secret of vote. You can write there, I suppose: info@sumate.org
9:00 PM
A quickie on local impressions (this is a regional blog and I must remind readers).
In Yaracuy ex governor Lapi has bemoaned the lack of voters, as he voted himself. In Carabobo beaches were full, while Valencia and the Puerto Cabello area had few voters. A foreign observer had no qualms in stating that in his opinion no more than 24% voted. In Lara I have relatives that live in a chavista area. Turn out was light, definitley lighter than last October. One realtive who is applying for some government benefit went to vote, least they checked on her voting status. She told me that she was surprised at how many of her neighbors did not bother voting and where supposedly chavista. So it did cut both ways and no wonder the Tibisay and Jorge combo where doing some last minute maneuvers.
10:05 PM
Rodriguez is speaking but he is really not saying much. That is, with 80 % something of machines reporting he still cannot advance an abstention number.... Imagine that..... And forget about an election result. But he cannot repress the data much longer so he needs to make a first bulletin so that the media can start advancing their results. As it is usual in Venezuela, the first ones to know the victors are the media and political party, the CNE (or its previous incarnations) is the last one to know.
An amusing note, Rodriguez is trying to defend the prolongation of voting hours, on emotional arguments of course, since he is violating the law. Each time Rodriguez is pressed on that issue, he replies "why don't you ask what those people feel about that?" Perfect manipulating and indecent reply from someone in his position.
I have a problem with that: there is a law.
You have from 7 AM to 4 PM to vote. Why do people feel that they can decide to waltz in at 6:30 PM to vote and why they must force the volunteers to stay so many more hours of their time? I am sorry, but Rodriguez argument is flawed. When you favor some you start affecting others and this is the end fo fairness. Sorry, but no deal Jorgito. The law states that whoever is on line at 4 PM has a right to force the voting center to remain open until every vote is cast.
On another thing. I did check the abstention in my home state, 32.8 % in October 2004. Let's see what the results are today.
One more update, sorry! 10:41 PM
On TV. Zulia governor seems happy. He obtained enough seats apparently.
Primero Justicia's Gerardo Blyde has just announced in an interview with Nitu Perez Osuna, that wherever Primero Justicia run it carried seats bigtime, even 7 out of 7 out of Chacao, and is fighting for the majority council in Sucre and a few other good resutls here and there. IN SPITE of massive abstention.
[see you tomorrow, I have had it with the Jorgito combo for the day]
9:30 AM
The day did not start very well. I stayed up late watching an old Bond flick on cable "You only live twice", but I am a sucker for Bond movies, even as they are now totally outdated technologically, when not downright silly. However they do reflect something of the times when they came out, something of what people thought the future would be. Bad Russians, not so good Americans (you needed ratings everywhere in the world) and of course rather nice and not as inconsequential as one would have thought Britishers.
Still, when the voting station close to my house opened the racket was enough to wake me up by 6 AM. At 7 AM, desperately tossing around to get back a couple more hours of sleep (it is Sunday after all) the "pregonera" (street peddler) of Yaracuy al Dia started screaming for people to get up and buy her papers. She never does it that early on Sundays! Yaracuy al Dia is the rather infamous pro Chavez paper and I suppose it is some sort of conspiracy to force chavistas to go out and vote.
Well, eventually I did manage to go back to sleep but by 8:30 I was up fixing the coffee pot and leaving to buy the Sunday papers: EL Universal, El Nacional and El Yaracuyano, the almost as infamous anti Chavez local paper that I feel compelled to buy on Sundays, as I cannot bring myself to buy Yaracuy al Dia anymore, too awful. I used to buy both, only on Sundays, but since the Recall Election I have stopped buying pro Chavez papers, as I have stopped watching VTV which I religiously watched, duty bound to inform myself and on occasion my readers. But after August I saw no point anymore in hearing or paying to read the eternal repeats, slogans and complaints of chavismo when I can get a quick summary anywhere else.
Thus on my way to the newspaper stand I passed in front of two deserted voting centers. I have been watching the one close to my home and indeed on occasion I can see someone coming in and out. But the main activity consists on two soldiers and one officer, in their really ugly new Cuban like drab olive uniforms. Boy, are they ugly!
For the record, in August 2004 the lines went completely around the block by 8 AM......
Abstention will be heavy, no matter what they say, even in Yaracuy who tends to vote more than other places. In fact I could not help but to observe that the lottery ticket shop two blocks away had more people than the voting station. Obviously people know where the odds of a better future lay.
2:10 PM
I have not voted yet. It is open until 4 PM.
Or is it?
Rodriguez, the CNE ineffable head with his crispating voice and tone has just announced that voting will be extended until 6 PM. "Due to weather and some logistical problems". Translation: chavismo has trouble to make their people vote and requested two more hours to improve the low participation numbers, as seen on TV. Indeed, the beaches in Caracas sea shore are full; the longest voting line I have seen so far on TV had no more than a half dozen people; here, across the street the situation is the same, people on occasion walk in. Even in October 31 2004, there was until around 1 PM a line of a dozen people. Today, no line, at all, at any given time. In fact the showing across is so poor that I have desisted to try to drive around and watch the other voting center: Globovision is not lying, it is showing what I see from my window.
Now, I will share a little bit of gossip. My S.O. in Caracas has decided not to vote though I am still working on it. However, my putative mother in law who has voted for Chavez every time announced today that she would vote for the Primero Justicia candidates. She lives downtown Caracas, in the Calcutta like city that Bernal has created. All her love for Chavez could not convince her to vote for Bernal candidates. The mess it too obvious, too many homeless, too much trash, too deficient a garbage collection system, too tired to have to be home at a curfew time imposed by crime, too tired of fighting with illegal peddlers for a path to walk on the side walks, etc, and more etc.... We are all in awe! My S.O. siblings have been deserting Chavez long ago (S.O. did vote for Chavez in 1998, first and last time, being even more of a against Chavez than I am, as I assume when one works as a public employee it is easier to watch the beast from inside). Oh well...
I suppose that I should brush my teeth and go vote. For the first time in my life I will be voting in an afternoon: I delighted so much in voting that I always was done by noon. But today it is a chore. By the way, I do not even know the names of my candidates, or what they stand for. It is enough for me to know that they will be defending the sitting mayor whose work is sort of OK. This is what Chavez has done to us, we vote against or for him. Even to sweep our streets. Period.
2:40 PM
I have been receiving messages from people working with Sumate and opposition observers. The numbers would be in the 10% participation around noon, chavismo having lots of trouble to drag their people to vote. Hence the voting extension? Naaahhhh.....
Another rumor is that there is a distribution of Mercal coupons and other goodies in order to convince folks to board the buses and go to vote. Heck, if Chavez gives me Mercal coupons I will go and vote right now!
There is also trouble in one of Carabobo townships, Miranda, where the mayor has to be voted again. Suddenly there were a few buses arriving FROM Valencia with Chavez supporters that have been switched to that district to vote. Imagine that!!!! Nothing on TV so far. So we will wait for final confirmation.
3:00 PM
The soldiers that are watching the voting center across my house are so bored that they are actually helping the rare people that show up to vote in looking for their name on the list. I do tell you ...
I also got preliminary confirmation for the Miranda incident but still nothing on TV.
I guess I am going to get ready now and go to vote and make a driving round of voting centers. See you around 4 PM.
3:50 PM
Actually it started raining so I postponed my voting. Which gave me time to scan TV, including VTV. Amazing!
Jorge Rodriguez just gave an extensive interview to Globovision!!! We all know where the ratings are when someone needs to have their message out!!!
VTV, the state TV, has a small panel of people, all wearing some red on them (very impartial of course). The background is a logo special for the day which looks more like a propaganda item about "popular democracy" than any serious newsy logo adequate for the day. And there are some people that till think that VTV has any objectivity in it. Of course the only long lines shown are those from Amazonas state where there are also governor elections and people are going out to vote. The rest? "people are voting, thank you very much!" and scarce images (you can always find in popular districts little lines of a dozen of people, and if you forget to mention that normally liens there are in the hundred, you might fool a few...
But the best was a William Lara interview, also on VTV. He recognized that although voting was high in popular districts [define high] the middle class and upper class sectors were showing large abstention! I mean, the guy has finally recognized that chavismo cannot count on the people that manage a modern economy!!!! No wonder inefficacy in government is reaching such dramatic levels!!! How come Lara is admitting such a thing!?
Now, before the pro abstention camp chants victory, I do not think that this abstention has anything to do with organization, it has to do with just "I have stopped caring" attitude. Let chavismo collapse on its own! The hole in Paracotos is the perfect omen....
Well, raining is stopping, I am off to vote now.
5:00 PM
I voted. It lasted a few minutes because there was no list of candidates anywhere and I wanted to check again as I am not voting straight ticket (I never vote straight ticket!). During all this time, including the time to consult the list that eventually was given to me from a non descript pile in a corner, my voting time, my complain that the vote I emitted could barely be read on the printed ticket (indeed, it would be very easy for a greasy thumb to smudge my vote and make it "null"), and some chit chat as to how many people came to vote, NO ONE ELSE came to vote at my table. Eventually one guy admitted that of the 500 plus registered voters for that table at around 4:30 barely a hundred had voted!!!! That makes, say, 150 voters in 10,5 hours of voting. 10 voters an hour!
On the way back I drove in front of several voting centers and there was little to no activity. Back home the one in front at the three soldiers at the door, chit chatting. No one inside.
We'll see.
5:50 PM
One of the CNE rectors, Tibisay Lucena, has just announced that due to voting lines and what not, voting has been extended until 7 PM!!!! Excuses, excuses!!! On TV, as I type, she is being questioned and she is answering rehearsed replies. Tibisay Lucena was at the Recall Election time a sub rector and the principal accomplice of Jorge Rodriguez in all the tricks that this one made at the time. She was duly recompensed by being promoted to full rector.
She is lying as far as I know. Only Amazonas has reported any significant lines and that is due that people are motivated there to vote for governor. In Globovision Roberto Giusti is already asking THE question: how come if through the whole day attendance was light, suddenly a few minutes before closing time people are rushing to vote and the CNE needs to keep voting centers open?
This is highly suspicious. I mean, if Tibisay Lucena were saying that in such and such state or city there was this and that problem and then they decided that in those states to keep voting stations open one extra hour, I could still buy it. But when challenged by a journalist she replied something like this: "well, you have limited rounds and we have a global picture. I know what I am talking about". And that is that, no further details!!! B.S.!!! Arrogance!!! Lucena is as usual up to all the tricks she has learned to apply for over a year now!!!
Sobella Mejias? Where are you? This is your chance to shine!!!! Or have you just become a Lucena?
6:22 PM
It did not last long. Primero Justicia has complained about the voting extension announcing that 98% of voting centers are empty and these ones should be closed right now. That there was absolutely no reason to keep them open as by law they should have been closed while the ones with people still voting can remain open as long as necessary by law.
Fraud anyone? As usual, it is the behavior of the CNE, the arrogance of its directors that is the main cause for suspicions. Do they do it on purpose or are they that arrogant?
Things are heating up.
TV, by the way finally showed up the fraud attempt in Miranda township of Carabobo. In other words, indeed, the CNE is being, charitably said, very lax with supervision. If not helping fraud all along. Even when they are winning!!!!!!! Since supposedly it is the opposition who is not voting. Go figure..... Union Radio carries interesting info on how things developed there where the burping governor behaves as your regular small town bad guy, un malandro forajido!
6:51 PM
Maybe I should change the title of this post. The day is turning out to become exciting as the evening progresses.
Sobella Mejias came out and I think I understood that she was not in agreement with the voting extension. Though as usual she tries not to engage herself in a decisive way.
As soon as she shut up, from Primero Justicia we hear that they consider that Mejias has announced that the extra voting is illegal and that they are leaving right then and there for the CNE to confront Rodriguez. I bet you that Rodriguez is going to hide (or already celebrating with Chavez that the strategy to promote abstention has worked and that 90% of municipal councilors are now in the hands of chavismo).
Now my question to all the abstention promoters. So you won, you got obviously one of the highest if not the highest abstention on Venezuelan records. But in a couple of weeks that 90% of chavista councilors will be sworn in and nobody is going, legally, to worry about it. Municipal orders will be voted and we will have to live with it.
So, dear abstentionists: what is the next move?
6:59 PM
Rodriguez on TV. Voting is closed. I suppose that Primero Justicia can go back home.
7:15 PM
I am listening to Jorge Rodriguez. He is completely outdone once again. Taking any criticism personally. Claiming that all he and the CNE did is perfect, that there is no reason whatsoever to complain.
And this used to make a living as a shrink? No wonder he switched to more lucrative activities....
Again, the arrogance of Rodriguez and the CNE is just astounding. And then they complain that so many people do not trust them? I, for one, could never trust Rodriguez. Nobody with such change of moods, so thin skinned, can be trusted in a position where there is so much pressure applied!
8:45 PM
This will probably be the last entry for today as no results will be published until the CNE gives its first official announcement. And there is no need for me to watch results that are meaningless anyway. It can wait for tomorrow. Though Sumate has made a very strong declaration accusing Rodriguez of being a liar, among other irregularities committed today by the CNE. So I might comeback for one last hurrah before going to bed as this unfolds.
However there is something I want to discuss tonight. I forgot to mention that my voting center had no "cazahuellas" whereas we had then in August and October 2004. I started thinking about it and I do not like what I am coming up with.
The "cazahuellas" are the controversial machines where an electronic finger print is taken just as in the US airports authorities do to incoming aliens. Maybe at an airport, but at a polling station? Where people who vote must dip a finger in a stinky ink? (I can smell my finger as type, in spite of thorough washing). And then, how come with so many reports of buying extra finger printing machines my voting center lost its own ones?
This is my explanation. The REAL REASON FOR THE FINGER PRINTING MACHINES is that they allow in real time the CNE to know who is voting and where. Considering the extensive data base on opposition electors courtesy to all these signatures, it is easy for the CNE to predict how the vote is doing and going (what happened on the Recall Election).
Today they knew that centers where the opposition is strong, such as my voting center, would vote lightly at most. What was worrying chavismo was the response of their own electors, the need to have a reasonable participation. Thus there was no need to monitor opposition sectors, to send needed help there to man crucial control tools. It is my theory, at this point, that cazahuellas were sent to all popular sectors, to make sure that the turn out of chavismo would be monitored real time, to give chavismo time to make corrections, to go and fetch their electors, be it from their good will or bribing them with Mercal tickets. How else can one explain that Rodriguez announced that turn out went up in the last two hours? And thus keeping up voting centers? There was no increase in Yaracuy turn out as far as I could see. So, where was that increase?
I am asking people who had cazahuellas in previous processes and not this time to write to Sumate and report it. This might be rather important, in particular if by December they force on us electronic elector registry which combined with voting machines, and cazahuellas could effectively blow away the secret of vote. You can write there, I suppose: info@sumate.org
9:00 PM
A quickie on local impressions (this is a regional blog and I must remind readers).
In Yaracuy ex governor Lapi has bemoaned the lack of voters, as he voted himself. In Carabobo beaches were full, while Valencia and the Puerto Cabello area had few voters. A foreign observer had no qualms in stating that in his opinion no more than 24% voted. In Lara I have relatives that live in a chavista area. Turn out was light, definitley lighter than last October. One realtive who is applying for some government benefit went to vote, least they checked on her voting status. She told me that she was surprised at how many of her neighbors did not bother voting and where supposedly chavista. So it did cut both ways and no wonder the Tibisay and Jorge combo where doing some last minute maneuvers.
10:05 PM
Rodriguez is speaking but he is really not saying much. That is, with 80 % something of machines reporting he still cannot advance an abstention number.... Imagine that..... And forget about an election result. But he cannot repress the data much longer so he needs to make a first bulletin so that the media can start advancing their results. As it is usual in Venezuela, the first ones to know the victors are the media and political party, the CNE (or its previous incarnations) is the last one to know.
An amusing note, Rodriguez is trying to defend the prolongation of voting hours, on emotional arguments of course, since he is violating the law. Each time Rodriguez is pressed on that issue, he replies "why don't you ask what those people feel about that?" Perfect manipulating and indecent reply from someone in his position.
I have a problem with that: there is a law.
You have from 7 AM to 4 PM to vote. Why do people feel that they can decide to waltz in at 6:30 PM to vote and why they must force the volunteers to stay so many more hours of their time? I am sorry, but Rodriguez argument is flawed. When you favor some you start affecting others and this is the end fo fairness. Sorry, but no deal Jorgito. The law states that whoever is on line at 4 PM has a right to force the voting center to remain open until every vote is cast.
On another thing. I did check the abstention in my home state, 32.8 % in October 2004. Let's see what the results are today.
One more update, sorry! 10:41 PM
On TV. Zulia governor seems happy. He obtained enough seats apparently.
Primero Justicia's Gerardo Blyde has just announced in an interview with Nitu Perez Osuna, that wherever Primero Justicia run it carried seats bigtime, even 7 out of 7 out of Chacao, and is fighting for the majority council in Sucre and a few other good resutls here and there. IN SPITE of massive abstention.
[see you tomorrow, I have had it with the Jorgito combo for the day]
Monday, June 22, 2015
Hunger strike succeeded? Elections on December 6
UPDATED. One of the main petitions of the hunger strikes holding around the countries was that the Venezuelan electoral board, CNE, announces the date for parliamentary elections. Only in Venezuela we need hunger strikes to get what should be a routine date set up that should have happened a year ago!
At any rate after a tortuous press announcement where CNE head Tibisay Lucena attacked everyone for "distortion" of reality when she could have done the announcement on a web page weeks ago she said they would be held on December 6, which was the legal date all along. Attacking Twitter will not save Tibisay from the established charges that she is a mere minister of pseudo electoral affairs of the regime.
And speaking of Twitter the first consequence to be expected:
At any rate after a tortuous press announcement where CNE head Tibisay Lucena attacked everyone for "distortion" of reality when she could have done the announcement on a web page weeks ago she said they would be held on December 6, which was the legal date all along. Attacking Twitter will not save Tibisay from the established charges that she is a mere minister of pseudo electoral affairs of the regime.
And speaking of Twitter the first consequence to be expected:
Listo, la elección es el 6-12. Levanten esa huelga
— Edgar Baptista (@edgarmanuel) June 22, 2015
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Friday night round up: democracy death watch in Venezuela
Yours truly has been exceedingly busy this week, from personal problems, to work problems, to the death of Cardinal Castillo. Stuck in Caracas, its nightmarish traffic, its lack of milk (I have not been able to find any milk since I arrived last Saturday except for a few cans of evaporated stuff that tastes like, well, you know), I can hardly wait until I can go back to San Felipe. If truth be told, I have even missed reading the papers, not only for lack of time, but because for three full days, the "quiosco" down the street where I stay in Caracas has been receiving half of its usual allotment of newspapers and by the time I use to stop there, coming back form work or errands in late afternoon, well, there is only the 5 copies of VEA left, the same ones that arrived in the morning.
Not that it was not a newsy week. Last Saturday I went to Primero Justicia bash. Quickly followed by the sadness of Cardinal Castillo death. I did go Wednesday to the Don Bosco church "capilla ardiente" to pay my respects. The line was long, it lasted quite a while for me to make my way to the altar and to spend a few three seconds in front of one of the greatest Venezuelans of the XX century, something that even as a lapsed catholic I have no qualm acknowledging. What was rather shameful was the total ignorance by the government of Cardinal Castillo death, who was buried today in Güiripa . But that is not surprising: the National Assembly was busy adding articles to the constitutional reform, 3 more today for a total that now has climbed to 61 from the 33 original Chavez proposal. The only question in people's mind is whether the AN will bring the total to 66, a close approximation of the Devil's number....
Discussing the articles added by the National Assembly is pretty much useless. At some point I will write a general informative review for the sake of it. What is telling, on the other hand, is that the modifications introduced by the N.A. are designed to limit even more our liberties and freedoms, and improving the welfare of "our" representatives: one of the new additions is to allow representatives that have been named into some executive position to return to the NA once their job is over (or Chavez fire them, something that happens very easily). Most serious democracies have abolished decades ago that automatic return to parliament, something prone to huge conflict of interests (and corruption?)
What is even more telling is that the N.A. has even stopped any pretense of discussion with the added articles. We get the lame excuse that the changes were "suggested" by the "wisdom of the people" during the previous round of discussion and thus further discussion is unecessary. That there is no evidence of that, that parliament never made it to a discussion day to Yaracuy is of course something that Cilia Flores, the chair of the N.A. is not close from admitting. The staged pseudo discussions held in some cities of Venezuela will not even do this time. A Teresa Carreño theater meting early this week was chavista only and when a few dissenting students tried to go and discuss the changes, well, they were thrown out as soon as they disagreed with a given article. Details of the moment are again irrelevant, what matters here is that chavismo has decided to force the issue now, that there is not even a pretense of discussion as poor PODEMOS is regularly humiliated in the N.A, by such "raclure de bidet" as Mario Isea (no, I will not translate the French term I used).
But PODEMOS is getting a taste of what it has been turning a blind eye for all these past 4 years. This blog has reported quite often how when opposition calls for marches in Caracas how the Nazional Guard stops buses on their way to Caracas. While of course Caracas fills up with buses carrying red shirted chavistas from Tucusiapón. Well, today PODEMOS wanted to bring a document to the high court asking them to force a delay in the new constitution referendum arguing very justly that the government is bulldozing more than 60 articles in barely 60 days. For notice, real democracies take up to 2 years to change a single constitutional article. Well, guess what? Buses carrying PODEMOS supporters are now the ones that are stopped at Nazional Guard controls. Ramon Martinez, Sucre governor, and certainly not my favorite person, was receiving a taste of his own medicine when the alleged 15 K supporter he gathered were also stopped. He even, gasp!, accused Chavez, made him accountable for his followers fate in front of the Nazional Guard! After years of sucking up to Chavez.....
In a way it is all very amusing. This time I have yet to see the first outdoor activity of chavismo to support the referendum. Only some limited ones, with close up on the V.P. Rodriguez screaming near obscenities, are shown on VTV. Activities with Chavez are ALWAYS indoors, ALWAYS in "controlled" conditions. Imagine that...... In other words, from the lack of public rallies by chavismo, from their obstruction to the meager anti "reforma" rallies, to the now total disregard to debate by the N.A. in its gamble in force feeding us an indigestible document, we know that polls must be bad at Miraflores. But if elections this time around seem difficult to win in a honest way, there is always the CNE to rely on to smooth the path to approbation.
The Venezuelan electoral board, CNE, long decried as sold out to chavismo, is stepping in to supply the lack in chavismo campaigning. Besides refusing to correct the flaws of the electoral system duly reported by the European Union observers, it basks in self sufficiency, in the deep knowledge that they cannot do wrong in the eyes of Chavez as long as this one keeps getting the majority he likes. One should not be surprised. As the magazine Zeta felicitously told us today, 4 are now open supporters of chavismo through their acts, and the fifth member is so incompetent, so wishy washy, that he might as well join chavismo and make the CNE a 5 to 0 majority instead of the 4 to 0 majority we have now. Zeta also published a picture where the 4 chavistas were sitting together in some activity (the fifth member is rarely seen with them, apparently an embarrassment for both sides)). When you look at the picture (a scan from Zeta) you are reminded about that thing about body language, how it might reveal the biased people chosen to do the dirty job that is required.
Because indeed the slimy CNE obliged Chavez today, thus deserving for its president Tibisay Lucena the title of second chavismo harlot after the first place so richly earned by Luisa Morales. See, the NGO Ciudadania Activa was passing a few adds that were not properly a campaign against the "reforma" but where clearly questioning the wisdom of the said "reforma". Nothing that the polls do not project themselves. But apparently, even though these adds appear on only one open air signal through Globovision in Caracas and Valencia, they were already too much for chavismo to stomach. It is not useless to remind the reader that since the closing of RCTV, there is ONLY ONE open air signal to which opposition message has access: Globovision. And this only in Caracas and Valencia. The rest of the country has access to opposition messages only through cable. The rest of the networks are either pro Chavez or will not pass such opposition messages.
Ciudadania Activa effective campaign was too much for chavismo, even if it reached at most half of the country. So the CNE today duly launched an investigation against Globovision, demanding that they stop showing such messages. If El Universal indicates the real target, Globovision, this one publishes a more extensive article where there is a list of a series of opposition media which have been harassed this week by the state. We learned that this Friday not only Globovision was told to stop (a direct attack on freedom of expression, a clear harbinger on what is to come if the "reforma" is voted), but we also learned from the exorbitant fine levied on El Universal. But that is not all, Bolivar Films, who produced the Ciudadania Activa adds was closed by the SENIAT for 48 hours, and the 4 nightly anchors of Globovision received citations by the SENIAT.
Can you say "intimidation"? "censorship"? "end of freedom of expression"?
Should I remind the reader that the famous "rojo, rojito" speech of Ramirez did not bring the intervention of the CNE until after the reelection of Chavez, and the eventual sanction, after months of dithering, came more than 6 months after the fact?
Can any one spell "double standard"? "total CNE bias"? "Tibisay Lucena is a servant of Chavez"?
But the CNE is not going to save Chavez reputation. Voices keep rising against the constitutional change who is now so nakedly unconstitutional that it is tearing the insides of chavismo. What else are the latest amendments added suddenly but meant to control all this dissidence within chavismo which cannot be hidden anymore? That is right, the first victims of the "reforma" will not be this blogger and his friends and readers, but chavistas themselves!!!!
As from voices outside chavismo, well, condemnations keep coming. Today's biggie was the one from the Catholic church who directly called the constitutional change proposal undemocratic in that it would end pluralism in Venezuela. There, just like that. If chavismo thought that the death of Cardinal Castillo Lara would tame the church voice, its disappointment must have been great.
But this should not make us forget that all major Venezuelan academies wrote a joint communique refusing the reform. This is not small thing because chavismo presence is low in such academies (chavismo lacks intellectuals of consequence, of course, see my post on one attempt at passing for intellectuals).
And for good measure the IAPA also condemned the end of freedom of expression that the new constitution would mean, this before Tibisay acted today... All of this just for this end of week.
So there we have today late as I finish the post, a quick survey on how debate, freedom of expression, authoritarianism is already everywhere in Venezuela. Can you imagine what it will be once the 60+ articles are ratified?
For curiosity I did one of my rare visits the English language sites supporting Chavez. Venezuelanalysis, the only worth an occasional visit, was faithful to itself refusing to debate the articles of the constitution in any real depth (certainly not with the depth, and reach that you can find on this site!). Still, there was a small concession besides the constant glorification of the revolution: the troubles of PODEMOS were at least acknowledged. There was though a rather bad surprise: the reprint of an exchange between an everyday more out of touch Quico and a Katy that was trying gently to bring him back to reality. Good fodder to amuse the readers of Venzuelanalysis.
On the blog side, do not expect any serious discussion either. Borev kept its sophomoric humor and Eva Golinger blog kept its promise to be as dull as it can be. Though she nailed a Chomsky interview and her picture with Evo. She is definitely tops for self promotion within the chavista camp. And her bland style is certainly going to protect her for a while.
Oil Wars (note how all these blogs are neatly listed on the left site of Venzuelanalysis) seems at least to have some very minor misgivings about what is going on in Venezuela. Very minor. I did detect a post with the astounding amount of 787 comments, I wonder who has time to read 787 comments... Certainly not me, reassuring me on the moderation policy of this blog where already more than 20 comments tend to scare me by the implied work it means. Still, no in deep analysis of the constitution there either, not even in the lone post on the Constitution that comes up in the recent posts where one of the guest bloggers of that blog rejoiced at the inclusion of gay rights. I suppose that gay rights will compensate for all the other rights we are about to lose, such as the right to vote, the secrecy of voting, the increased bar for recall elections and petition referendum, the right to due process in time of trouble, and more, much more....
I include these observations in a way unrelated to this post, because they are in fact quite pathetic, while illustrative. These pro Chavez bloggers (there are more but those three will suffice for the point) are people who are desperately now trying to look for anything positive in Chavez while ignoring all the huge negatives accumulating. It is true that I also look only at the negative of Chavez. But the fact of the matter is that I have at least never denied the social needs of Venezuela, and always understood the appeal of Chavez, giving him always a solid 30% even in the dark days of 2003. On the other hand, these people, all foreigners, do not really care about Venezuelans. I am sure that if someday this blog is closed by chavismo and the owner confronted with the repressive agency called SENIAT, or jail, they will be secretly cheering, if not publicly attacking me as Eva has already done many times for many Venezuelan journalist. That is one conclusion of this post if you like: it is sad to see so many people, at the AN or in the anglo blogs, it does not make any difference, considering democracy as a disposable item as long as their objective is reached. But I am preparing a translation of a great article from this Friday Zeta that will illustrate this very well.
-The end-
Not that it was not a newsy week. Last Saturday I went to Primero Justicia bash. Quickly followed by the sadness of Cardinal Castillo death. I did go Wednesday to the Don Bosco church "capilla ardiente" to pay my respects. The line was long, it lasted quite a while for me to make my way to the altar and to spend a few three seconds in front of one of the greatest Venezuelans of the XX century, something that even as a lapsed catholic I have no qualm acknowledging. What was rather shameful was the total ignorance by the government of Cardinal Castillo death, who was buried today in Güiripa . But that is not surprising: the National Assembly was busy adding articles to the constitutional reform, 3 more today for a total that now has climbed to 61 from the 33 original Chavez proposal. The only question in people's mind is whether the AN will bring the total to 66, a close approximation of the Devil's number....
Discussing the articles added by the National Assembly is pretty much useless. At some point I will write a general informative review for the sake of it. What is telling, on the other hand, is that the modifications introduced by the N.A. are designed to limit even more our liberties and freedoms, and improving the welfare of "our" representatives: one of the new additions is to allow representatives that have been named into some executive position to return to the NA once their job is over (or Chavez fire them, something that happens very easily). Most serious democracies have abolished decades ago that automatic return to parliament, something prone to huge conflict of interests (and corruption?)
What is even more telling is that the N.A. has even stopped any pretense of discussion with the added articles. We get the lame excuse that the changes were "suggested" by the "wisdom of the people" during the previous round of discussion and thus further discussion is unecessary. That there is no evidence of that, that parliament never made it to a discussion day to Yaracuy is of course something that Cilia Flores, the chair of the N.A. is not close from admitting. The staged pseudo discussions held in some cities of Venezuela will not even do this time. A Teresa Carreño theater meting early this week was chavista only and when a few dissenting students tried to go and discuss the changes, well, they were thrown out as soon as they disagreed with a given article. Details of the moment are again irrelevant, what matters here is that chavismo has decided to force the issue now, that there is not even a pretense of discussion as poor PODEMOS is regularly humiliated in the N.A, by such "raclure de bidet" as Mario Isea (no, I will not translate the French term I used).
But PODEMOS is getting a taste of what it has been turning a blind eye for all these past 4 years. This blog has reported quite often how when opposition calls for marches in Caracas how the Nazional Guard stops buses on their way to Caracas. While of course Caracas fills up with buses carrying red shirted chavistas from Tucusiapón. Well, today PODEMOS wanted to bring a document to the high court asking them to force a delay in the new constitution referendum arguing very justly that the government is bulldozing more than 60 articles in barely 60 days. For notice, real democracies take up to 2 years to change a single constitutional article. Well, guess what? Buses carrying PODEMOS supporters are now the ones that are stopped at Nazional Guard controls. Ramon Martinez, Sucre governor, and certainly not my favorite person, was receiving a taste of his own medicine when the alleged 15 K supporter he gathered were also stopped. He even, gasp!, accused Chavez, made him accountable for his followers fate in front of the Nazional Guard! After years of sucking up to Chavez.....
In a way it is all very amusing. This time I have yet to see the first outdoor activity of chavismo to support the referendum. Only some limited ones, with close up on the V.P. Rodriguez screaming near obscenities, are shown on VTV. Activities with Chavez are ALWAYS indoors, ALWAYS in "controlled" conditions. Imagine that...... In other words, from the lack of public rallies by chavismo, from their obstruction to the meager anti "reforma" rallies, to the now total disregard to debate by the N.A. in its gamble in force feeding us an indigestible document, we know that polls must be bad at Miraflores. But if elections this time around seem difficult to win in a honest way, there is always the CNE to rely on to smooth the path to approbation.
The Venezuelan electoral board, CNE, long decried as sold out to chavismo, is stepping in to supply the lack in chavismo campaigning. Besides refusing to correct the flaws of the electoral system duly reported by the European Union observers, it basks in self sufficiency, in the deep knowledge that they cannot do wrong in the eyes of Chavez as long as this one keeps getting the majority he likes. One should not be surprised. As the magazine Zeta felicitously told us today, 4 are now open supporters of chavismo through their acts, and the fifth member is so incompetent, so wishy washy, that he might as well join chavismo and make the CNE a 5 to 0 majority instead of the 4 to 0 majority we have now. Zeta also published a picture where the 4 chavistas were sitting together in some activity (the fifth member is rarely seen with them, apparently an embarrassment for both sides)). When you look at the picture (a scan from Zeta) you are reminded about that thing about body language, how it might reveal the biased people chosen to do the dirty job that is required.
Because indeed the slimy CNE obliged Chavez today, thus deserving for its president Tibisay Lucena the title of second chavismo harlot after the first place so richly earned by Luisa Morales. See, the NGO Ciudadania Activa was passing a few adds that were not properly a campaign against the "reforma" but where clearly questioning the wisdom of the said "reforma". Nothing that the polls do not project themselves. But apparently, even though these adds appear on only one open air signal through Globovision in Caracas and Valencia, they were already too much for chavismo to stomach. It is not useless to remind the reader that since the closing of RCTV, there is ONLY ONE open air signal to which opposition message has access: Globovision. And this only in Caracas and Valencia. The rest of the country has access to opposition messages only through cable. The rest of the networks are either pro Chavez or will not pass such opposition messages.
Ciudadania Activa effective campaign was too much for chavismo, even if it reached at most half of the country. So the CNE today duly launched an investigation against Globovision, demanding that they stop showing such messages. If El Universal indicates the real target, Globovision, this one publishes a more extensive article where there is a list of a series of opposition media which have been harassed this week by the state. We learned that this Friday not only Globovision was told to stop (a direct attack on freedom of expression, a clear harbinger on what is to come if the "reforma" is voted), but we also learned from the exorbitant fine levied on El Universal. But that is not all, Bolivar Films, who produced the Ciudadania Activa adds was closed by the SENIAT for 48 hours, and the 4 nightly anchors of Globovision received citations by the SENIAT.
Can you say "intimidation"? "censorship"? "end of freedom of expression"?
Should I remind the reader that the famous "rojo, rojito" speech of Ramirez did not bring the intervention of the CNE until after the reelection of Chavez, and the eventual sanction, after months of dithering, came more than 6 months after the fact?
Can any one spell "double standard"? "total CNE bias"? "Tibisay Lucena is a servant of Chavez"?
But the CNE is not going to save Chavez reputation. Voices keep rising against the constitutional change who is now so nakedly unconstitutional that it is tearing the insides of chavismo. What else are the latest amendments added suddenly but meant to control all this dissidence within chavismo which cannot be hidden anymore? That is right, the first victims of the "reforma" will not be this blogger and his friends and readers, but chavistas themselves!!!!
As from voices outside chavismo, well, condemnations keep coming. Today's biggie was the one from the Catholic church who directly called the constitutional change proposal undemocratic in that it would end pluralism in Venezuela. There, just like that. If chavismo thought that the death of Cardinal Castillo Lara would tame the church voice, its disappointment must have been great.
But this should not make us forget that all major Venezuelan academies wrote a joint communique refusing the reform. This is not small thing because chavismo presence is low in such academies (chavismo lacks intellectuals of consequence, of course, see my post on one attempt at passing for intellectuals).
And for good measure the IAPA also condemned the end of freedom of expression that the new constitution would mean, this before Tibisay acted today... All of this just for this end of week.
So there we have today late as I finish the post, a quick survey on how debate, freedom of expression, authoritarianism is already everywhere in Venezuela. Can you imagine what it will be once the 60+ articles are ratified?
For curiosity I did one of my rare visits the English language sites supporting Chavez. Venezuelanalysis, the only worth an occasional visit, was faithful to itself refusing to debate the articles of the constitution in any real depth (certainly not with the depth, and reach that you can find on this site!). Still, there was a small concession besides the constant glorification of the revolution: the troubles of PODEMOS were at least acknowledged. There was though a rather bad surprise: the reprint of an exchange between an everyday more out of touch Quico and a Katy that was trying gently to bring him back to reality. Good fodder to amuse the readers of Venzuelanalysis.
On the blog side, do not expect any serious discussion either. Borev kept its sophomoric humor and Eva Golinger blog kept its promise to be as dull as it can be. Though she nailed a Chomsky interview and her picture with Evo. She is definitely tops for self promotion within the chavista camp. And her bland style is certainly going to protect her for a while.
Oil Wars (note how all these blogs are neatly listed on the left site of Venzuelanalysis) seems at least to have some very minor misgivings about what is going on in Venezuela. Very minor. I did detect a post with the astounding amount of 787 comments, I wonder who has time to read 787 comments... Certainly not me, reassuring me on the moderation policy of this blog where already more than 20 comments tend to scare me by the implied work it means. Still, no in deep analysis of the constitution there either, not even in the lone post on the Constitution that comes up in the recent posts where one of the guest bloggers of that blog rejoiced at the inclusion of gay rights. I suppose that gay rights will compensate for all the other rights we are about to lose, such as the right to vote, the secrecy of voting, the increased bar for recall elections and petition referendum, the right to due process in time of trouble, and more, much more....
I include these observations in a way unrelated to this post, because they are in fact quite pathetic, while illustrative. These pro Chavez bloggers (there are more but those three will suffice for the point) are people who are desperately now trying to look for anything positive in Chavez while ignoring all the huge negatives accumulating. It is true that I also look only at the negative of Chavez. But the fact of the matter is that I have at least never denied the social needs of Venezuela, and always understood the appeal of Chavez, giving him always a solid 30% even in the dark days of 2003. On the other hand, these people, all foreigners, do not really care about Venezuelans. I am sure that if someday this blog is closed by chavismo and the owner confronted with the repressive agency called SENIAT, or jail, they will be secretly cheering, if not publicly attacking me as Eva has already done many times for many Venezuelan journalist. That is one conclusion of this post if you like: it is sad to see so many people, at the AN or in the anglo blogs, it does not make any difference, considering democracy as a disposable item as long as their objective is reached. But I am preparing a translation of a great article from this Friday Zeta that will illustrate this very well.
-The end-
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The electoral umpire
Rayma, cartoonist of El Universal, has a deadly cartoon today that explains best than anything what a bunch of cheats the CNE is (Venezuela electoral board). For those who do not know anything about Soccer/Football (England) I will explain after the jump (you are about half of the readership after all).By the way, Tibisay was outraged by the words of USA Roberta Jacobson at the State Department, who was merely stated what we all know. But Tibisay seems not aware that we call her the Minister for Elections of Chavez.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Electoral mish-mash, or how to win when you lose an election
Today was a day rich in electoral content but woefully poor in electoral solutions.
From chavismo side, at another failed rally of forced supporters, Maduro went ahead and announced how the constitutional assembly will be elected. Well, half of it anyway. The part corresponding to the corporative members is still unclear but that is not a problem for chavismo since these members elected through "organizations" will go at least 80% for them, courtesy of all the political controls and apartheid like access of the non chavista population.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
A self assured, confident Chavez administration expels an Euro-representative
Chavismo must be very nervous. TibiSI Lucena, ooopps, I meant Tibisay Lucena, president of the CNE has asked for the expulsion of a Spanish Euro Representative Luis Herrero that said things he was not supposed to say.
OK, let's look at this with a calm attitude.
Whatever indisposed TibiSI did not register with me. Representative Herrero said what this blog has been saying for weeks as to the nature of the blackmailing campaign of Chavez. And he said it nicer than what I wrote. Why is TbiSI not expelling me from Venezuela?
Herrero did not interfere into Venezuelan politics anymore than did Ecuador's Correa or Nicaragua's Ortega who came here as head of states to campaign with Chavez directly. Herrero came on the last day, for international observation, at a time and a position that would made whatever he could say almost irrelevant. TibiSI made sure it would be relevant.
OK, let's admit for the sake of the argument that indeed Herrero deserved expulsion. Why was that expulsion almost carried simultaneously with the announcement of TibiSI? And why not even allow him to get his passport before being carted off who knows where. Because the DISIP came fast, grabbed the guy, took him away and no one had for two hours a f...ing idea where the guy was. The Airport? Jail? The Spanish Embassy? It is, oh, all so fitting with the mafiosi nature of the regime, the police and the army having become simple executors of the sordid deals of chavismo.
I can imagine tomorrow's roar of Chavez promoting inoffensive looking Herrero as yet another tool of the empire, denouncing yet another conspiration and saying that Venezuela deserves respect. Just as the opposition will remind us about the hanger on of Chavez sucking up our money for their sycophancy fees.
There are thus several ways to interpret this.
Chavismo is losing and a nervous TibiSI is trying to score browny points before Chavez yells at her again. A flashy measure would seem appropriate.
Chavismo is losing big and TibiSI was asked to put up the show.
Somebody within chavismo is trying to sabotage Chavez, to make him look bad in Europe (and elsewhere). Because, between us, can the DISIP be that stupid not to let the guy even take his passport? We are not talking of a HRW person here, but a European Representative!!!! Is the DISIP not trained to act according to the individual or are they so deep in mafia practices that they stoppe dcaring?
Chavismo is losing big and they are simply a buch of Monty Python characters.
Or more charitably, chavismo is losing by the narrowest of margins and someone came up with this sketch to push the cheap nationalism pedal.
Whatever it is, tomorrow in European newpsapers Venezuela will come up as a country of savages and Chavez as "el gorila militarote" he is. We are a joke.....
-The end-
OK, let's look at this with a calm attitude.
Whatever indisposed TibiSI did not register with me. Representative Herrero said what this blog has been saying for weeks as to the nature of the blackmailing campaign of Chavez. And he said it nicer than what I wrote. Why is TbiSI not expelling me from Venezuela?
Herrero did not interfere into Venezuelan politics anymore than did Ecuador's Correa or Nicaragua's Ortega who came here as head of states to campaign with Chavez directly. Herrero came on the last day, for international observation, at a time and a position that would made whatever he could say almost irrelevant. TibiSI made sure it would be relevant.
OK, let's admit for the sake of the argument that indeed Herrero deserved expulsion. Why was that expulsion almost carried simultaneously with the announcement of TibiSI? And why not even allow him to get his passport before being carted off who knows where. Because the DISIP came fast, grabbed the guy, took him away and no one had for two hours a f...ing idea where the guy was. The Airport? Jail? The Spanish Embassy? It is, oh, all so fitting with the mafiosi nature of the regime, the police and the army having become simple executors of the sordid deals of chavismo.
I can imagine tomorrow's roar of Chavez promoting inoffensive looking Herrero as yet another tool of the empire, denouncing yet another conspiration and saying that Venezuela deserves respect. Just as the opposition will remind us about the hanger on of Chavez sucking up our money for their sycophancy fees.
There are thus several ways to interpret this.
Chavismo is losing and a nervous TibiSI is trying to score browny points before Chavez yells at her again. A flashy measure would seem appropriate.
Chavismo is losing big and TibiSI was asked to put up the show.
Somebody within chavismo is trying to sabotage Chavez, to make him look bad in Europe (and elsewhere). Because, between us, can the DISIP be that stupid not to let the guy even take his passport? We are not talking of a HRW person here, but a European Representative!!!! Is the DISIP not trained to act according to the individual or are they so deep in mafia practices that they stoppe dcaring?
Chavismo is losing big and they are simply a buch of Monty Python characters.
Or more charitably, chavismo is losing by the narrowest of margins and someone came up with this sketch to push the cheap nationalism pedal.
Whatever it is, tomorrow in European newpsapers Venezuela will come up as a country of savages and Chavez as "el gorila militarote" he is. We are a joke.....
-The end-
Sunday, April 14, 2013
The last, I hope, election day post
Tibisay announces Maduro winning....
11:13
Shit! Tibisay arrives when I was about to walk out!
11:09
Time to walk the poor dog. Tibisay, hold on for 15 minutes more!!!!
10:48
Well, it looks like the military are deciding what is it to be done. 14 years of leftist "participatory democracy" and we end up where we started, or rather never got out of it: the army has always the last world in Venezuela.
11:13
Shit! Tibisay arrives when I was about to walk out!
11:09
Time to walk the poor dog. Tibisay, hold on for 15 minutes more!!!!
10:48
Well, it looks like the military are deciding what is it to be done. 14 years of leftist "participatory democracy" and we end up where we started, or rather never got out of it: the army has always the last world in Venezuela.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Great news! CNE to emit results Friday afternoon!
Our long wait for the election results of Sunday might be over. We have got NOTHING since the 2AM bulletin, even though more than 10% of the ballots were were not accounted for yet (AWOL?). But Tibisay Lucena, the head honcho of the CNE, is invited to the inauguration of Mrs. K in Buenos Aires. Why? I suppose because she is a woman, or that the K dynasty wants to keep leeching of Venezuela for as long as Chavez is in office. Whatever it is, Tibisay is leaving tomorrow afternoon AFTER the press conference where the final results will be announced. Or so the CNE page tells us. We all hope that by Friday she will have got back her composure from her sorry spectacle of Monday AM, or that Sandra Oblitas will have stopped her partisan crying.
-The end-
***This post is 100% irony/sarcasm free.
No Venezuelan voter has been used to test the emotional implications of
what is implied in this post***
No Venezuelan voter has been used to test the emotional implications of
what is implied in this post***
-The end-
Sunday, December 08, 2013
December 2013 election day post
10:27 PM
I think that I need to close this election day post now. All is quiet and analysis start. However I will leave you with food for thought:
Tibisay's lecture even for those who boycotted it like I did, reeks of massaging the corpse. That is, the CNE seems, to me anyway, to have picked up the most favorable results to chavismo and presented only those, leaving for us to add it up later the less favorable and truly evaluate what happened today. When all is said and done, we can also observe that the obscene advantage of the regime and its lack of scruples in breaking commerce and shop owners for electoral purposes has paid off in part, in particular in Caracas where Ledezma victory seems weaker than what it was a month ago.
10:16 PM
Details:
Opposition takes back Valencia (no surprise) but fails in Maracay (not unsurprising since the natural candidate Mardo was barred).
Barquisimeto to MUD, great victory.
Barinas, of Chavezlandia goes opposition, major insult!!!!!
Maracaibo and Caracas at large are retained (as it should have been).
More later.
I think that I need to close this election day post now. All is quiet and analysis start. However I will leave you with food for thought:
Tibisay's lecture even for those who boycotted it like I did, reeks of massaging the corpse. That is, the CNE seems, to me anyway, to have picked up the most favorable results to chavismo and presented only those, leaving for us to add it up later the less favorable and truly evaluate what happened today. When all is said and done, we can also observe that the obscene advantage of the regime and its lack of scruples in breaking commerce and shop owners for electoral purposes has paid off in part, in particular in Caracas where Ledezma victory seems weaker than what it was a month ago.
10:16 PM
Details:
Opposition takes back Valencia (no surprise) but fails in Maracay (not unsurprising since the natural candidate Mardo was barred).
Barquisimeto to MUD, great victory.
Barinas, of Chavezlandia goes opposition, major insult!!!!!
Maracaibo and Caracas at large are retained (as it should have been).
More later.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Some CNE gossip
Sometimes we bloggers do get some interesting bits of gossip. I do not know how true is the one below but it sounds so right, so in character that I decided to put it up. Without naming the source of course.
Jorge Rodriguez, ex CNE director, used to be a nobody, a colorless metro worker under Caldera, in charge of organizing the subsidized student fare tickets. Well, now, after a very few years of glorious Bolibanana Revolution he lives in a luxury condo, in one of those exclusive upper Altamira towers which have only one apartment per floor. His is about 500+ square meters. In Altamira this is probably worth at least one million bucks. Not bad, no?
Well, apparently some one's relative with significant cash at hand is living there and that person has a hired chauffeur. During day time this brave soul hangs around in the garage waiting for an order to drive Ms. Daisy somewhere. He also looks "from the people". Well, this chauffeur has seen several time Tibisay Lucena comes discreetly in a smoked glass vehicle and check around before getting off the car and go and visit Jorge Rodriguez. Just as some cheapo mistress. Apparently the look of the chauffeur is safe enough (chavista enough?) for her to get out of the car and go up. But the chauffeur talked to Ms. Daisy and she talked to my source.
No real crime of course, but an amusing observation: Jorge Rodriguez still influences the CNE and Tibisay does not want people to know. Silly, because we all know that she must call him often to receive instructions. Heck, even Humala received instructions from Rodriguez. Anyway, what is it that is so important that she cannot say it over the phone? Inquiring minds want to know.
Jorge Rodriguez, ex CNE director, used to be a nobody, a colorless metro worker under Caldera, in charge of organizing the subsidized student fare tickets. Well, now, after a very few years of glorious Bolibanana Revolution he lives in a luxury condo, in one of those exclusive upper Altamira towers which have only one apartment per floor. His is about 500+ square meters. In Altamira this is probably worth at least one million bucks. Not bad, no?
Well, apparently some one's relative with significant cash at hand is living there and that person has a hired chauffeur. During day time this brave soul hangs around in the garage waiting for an order to drive Ms. Daisy somewhere. He also looks "from the people". Well, this chauffeur has seen several time Tibisay Lucena comes discreetly in a smoked glass vehicle and check around before getting off the car and go and visit Jorge Rodriguez. Just as some cheapo mistress. Apparently the look of the chauffeur is safe enough (chavista enough?) for her to get out of the car and go up. But the chauffeur talked to Ms. Daisy and she talked to my source.
No real crime of course, but an amusing observation: Jorge Rodriguez still influences the CNE and Tibisay does not want people to know. Silly, because we all know that she must call him often to receive instructions. Heck, even Humala received instructions from Rodriguez. Anyway, what is it that is so important that she cannot say it over the phone? Inquiring minds want to know.
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