Latest news with #NationalElectoralCouncil
Miami Herald
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Venezuela's election fiasco may move Maduro to shed any pretense of democracy
Following Venezuela's sham legislative elections May 25, which were boycotted by the main opposition coalition and marked by an embarrassingly low voter turnout, dictator Nicolás Maduro is likely done pretending to hold free elections. The vote was such a fiasco for the regime's hopes of recovering international recognition that Maduro now says he plans to change the Constitution and hold future elections under a 'communal' electoral system. Needless to say, this would secure for him — much like in Cuba — guaranteed victories. In an exclusive Zoom interview on May 26, opposition leader María Corina Machado told me the legislative elections were a 'monumental defeat' for Maduro because an overwhelming majority of Venezuelans heeded the opposition's call to boycott the vote. 'It was the lowest voter participation in Venezuela's history,' Machado told me. 'No one went out to vote.' While the Maduro-controlled National Electoral Council claimed a 43% turnout, Machado told me it was just 12%. Her estimate may be closer to reality. The Meganálisis polling firm put turnout at 14%. The Economist magazine reported, 'Turnout appeared pitiful. Polling stations were deserted.' Machado, who remains in hiding to avoid her arrest, added that the opposition collected about 10,000 photos and videos taken that day at voting places, showing that they were virtually empty. The government also banned top opposition leaders from running and barred international observers, including from the European Union and the Organization of American States, from monitoring the elections. As expected, Maduro claimed a huge victory. 'Today, we have shown the strength of Chavismo,' he said on election night, referring to the party he inherited from former strongman Hugo Chávez. According to the government-controlled National Electoral Council, Maduro's party won 83% of the parliamentary vote, giving it and its allies 253 seats in the 285-seat congress. The government also claimed to have won 23 of 24 governorships, an increase of three over its previous total. In last year's July 28 presidential election, in which Machado and other leading opposition figures were barred, Maduro proclaimed himself re-elected even though opposition tallies showed that Machado's hand-picked candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, had won by a landslide with more than 67% of the vote. The government never released voting records to substantiate Maduro's alleged victory. When I asked Machado why Maduro even held last week's legislative elections, given that hardly anyone takes Venezuela's voting process seriously, she said the government didn't expect such a low turnout. 'They thought that they could force public employees to go to the polls, like in the past, and create an illusion that 30% or 40% of the population had participated,' Machado said. 'They hoped that this would help normalize things, but it backfired.' Until now, Maduro pretended to allow a semblance of democratic normalcy to win some international recognition, especially from Brazil and other Latin American countries. But he is now suggesting that he will change Venezuela's Constitution to overhaul the voting system. Venezuela needs 'a new electoral system' and 'the re-engineering of everything, like where people vote and how people vote,' Maduro said on the afternoon of May 25, when it was already clear that few Venezuelans had heeded the government's call to vote. Maduro called for creating 'an electoral system of communal circuits for permanent consultation.' He did not elaborate, but he seemed to be proposing a system of government-controlled plebiscites. I wouldn't be surprised if Maduro goes ahead with this plan. Even the democratically elected leftist governments of Brazil, Colombia and Chile don't take his elections seriously. And the fact that he can't even get Venezuela's public employees to the polls makes him look weak at home. In addition, public discontent is likely to rise in the coming months. The economy, which had been recovering somewhat since its worst crisis in 2019, is once again going downhill. Annual inflation already exceeds 100%, and the official minimum wage, without bonuses, is just $1.50 a month. Economic growth is expected to contract between 1.5% and 4% this year, due to low world oil prices and the U.S. decision to suspend Chevron's license to export oil from Venezuela. To make things worse for Maduro, Russia and China are not as willing as in the past to give Maduro an economic lifeline, after seeing their loans wasted by mismanagement and corruption. And Trump's vows to clamp down on illegal immigration and deport more than 350,000 Venezuelan immigrants may shut down an escape route for many desperate Venezuelans. In short, Maduro's legislative elections may have been a pyrrhic victory for him. He will now have more legislators in congress and more governors, but he is even more isolated from the rest of the world and his own people. Don't miss the 'Oppenheimer Presenta' TV show on Sundays at 9 pm E.T. on CNN en Español. Blog:
Chicago Tribune
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Many Venezuelan voters, frustrated and disillusioned, skip election
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelans still reeling from the outcome of last year's presidential election did not respond Sunday to government calls to get out and vote for lawmakers, governors and other officials. That left voting centers practically empty at times and put officials on the defensive. The election, which the political opposition urged people to boycott, was the first to allow broad voter participation since the presidential contest that President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won last year despite credible evidence to the contrary. It took place two days after the government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and linked them to an alleged plot to hinder the vote. Members of the military throughout the day outnumbered voters at many polling centers in the capital, Caracas, where no lines formed outside in stark contrast with the enthusiasm of the July presidential election, when some people lined up for hours. But senior government officials insisted polling centers saw such overwhelming participation on Sunday that they had to remain open past the scheduled 12 hours of operation. Electoral authorities said 42.66% of registered voters cast ballots across the country. Some 21.4 million people were registered, meaning the National Electoral Council claimed that about 9.12 million voters participated. Voter participation, in the eyes of the opposition, legitimizes Maduro's claim to power and his government's repressive apparatus, which after the July presidential election detained more than 2,000 people including protesters, poll workers, political activists and minors, to quash dissent. 'I'm not going to vote,' truck driver Carlos León, 41, said standing near a desolate polling station in downtown Caracas. 'I don't believe in the (electoral authority). I don't think they'll respect the vote. Nobody forgets what happened in the presidential elections. It's sad, but it's true.' A nationwide poll conducted between April 29 and May 4 by the Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed that only 15.9% of voters expressed a high probability of voting Sunday. Of those, 74.2% said they would vote for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its allies, while 13.8% said they would vote for contenders associated with two opposition leaders who are not boycotting the elections. 'Today, we witnessed an event that attempted to disguise itself as an election, but failed to deceive the country or the world,' Edmundo González, who is recognized by the United States and several other countries as the winner of the July presidential election, posted on X. 'What the world saw today was an act of civic courage. A silent but powerful declaration that the desire for change, dignity, and a future remains intact,' he added. Opposition leaders chose González, a retired diplomat, as the faction's presidential candidate because the government banned primary winner Maria Corina Machado from running for office. González has been in exile since September to avoid arrest and, for the same reason, Machado has not been seen in public since January. Machado's close ally, Juan Pablo Guanipa, was among 70 people detained Friday for alleged anti-government activities. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello linked Guanipa to an alleged 'terrorist group' plotting to disturb Sunday's vote. Guanipa's brother, Tomás, rejected the accusation and said the arrest was punishment for 'thinking differently' from the government. The ruling party-loyal National Electoral Council oversaw Sunday's election for state legislators, 285 members of the unicameral National Assembly and all 24 governors, including the newly created governorship purportedly established to administer Essequibo, a region long under dispute between Venezuela and neighboring Guyana. Among the members of the opposition who were on Sunday's ballot were twice-failed presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, who won a seat in the National Assembly, and former lawmaker Juan Requesens, who lost his bid for governor. Requesens spent years in prison after authorities accused him of participating in a failed drone attack against Maduro. The electoral body reported that the ruling party won 23 of the 24 gubernatorial races. Maduro's party also kept control of the National Assembly. Maduro after voting said the electronic polling process is 'very fast and very easy,' seemingly justifying the lack of lines at polling centers. His ruling-party ally, Gov. Freddy Bernal, explained the apparent low turnout similarly. 'We won't see long lines because the process is very fast,' Bernal, who was reelected governor of the state of Táchira, told state television. Maduro also criticized opposition factions who asked people not to vote. 'What did they win? They lost everything,' Maduro said three times regarding previous opposition boycotts. 'They — the ones running that campaign — are nothing, and Venezuela continues its course.' The ruling party controls 19 governorships and more than 90% of the National Assembly seats. But in Maduro's Venezuela, regional elected officials, regardless of party affiliation, have limited impact on people's lives because his highly centralized government controls practically everything from Caracas. The government also represses the opposition by, for instance, disqualifying a candidate after the election or appointing a ruling-party loyalist to oversee the elected offices held by opponents, rendering them powerless. Further, after the opposition won control of the National Assembly in 2015, Maduro created an election for members of a Constituent Assembly in 2017. That body, controlled by the ruling party, decreed itself superior to all other branches of government until it ceased to exist in 2020. On Sunday, state television showed daylight footage of voters gathered at some polling centers outside Caracas, including from Indigenous communities where people traveled by boat and defied heavy rains to vote. In a working-class neighborhood in the capital, the National Guard placed three armored personnel carriers, but by midday, the nearest voting center had no visible activity and soldiers were looking at their cellphones while they sheltered from the sun. Meanwhile, voters at a polling place in downtown Caracas said they cast ballots out of fear of losing their government jobs or food and other state-controlled benefits. And in an opposition stronghold, some ignored the boycott calls believing that voting is their civic duty, while others saw the election as a chance to keep their local government under opposition control. 'I'm defending my municipality,' said Edith, the owner of a bankrupt family business who declined to give her last name out of fear of government reprisals. 'I'm still angry with what happened in July, but I have to defend it.'
Euronews
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Sweeping victory for ruling party announced in Venezuela's elections
Venezuela's ruling party retained its significant majority in Sunday's regional and parliamentary elections, which were largely boycotted by opposition groups protesting the government of President Nicolás Maduro and his contested re-election last year. Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela won nearly 83% of the vote, according to the National Electoral Council (CNE), which is widely seen as loyal to the ruling party. They also reportedly secured 23 of 24 state governorships. The political opposition, led by figurehead María Corina Machado, had urged voters to boycott the election, calling it a "farce" designed to legitimise authoritarian rule. Maduro dismissed the boycott. "What did they win? They lost everything," he said regarding previous opposition boycotts. "They - the ones running that campaign - are nothing, and Venezuela continues its course." Electoral authorities reported a turnout of 42.66% among the country's 21.4 million registered voters, which would indicate approximately 9.12 million ballots cast. Just two days before the vote, the government arrested at least 70 people it claimed were involved in a plot to obstruct the election. Among those arrested was former National Assembly Vice President and opposition leader, Juan Pablo Guanipa. This was the first nationwide vote with broad voter eligibility since Maduro declared victory in the 2024 presidential election, a result widely questioned by international observers and many Venezuelans. A nationwide poll conducted between 29 April-4 May by the Venezuela-based firm Delphos found that only 15.9% of voters had expressed a strong likelihood of participating in the regional elections. Among those who said they would vote, 74.2% supported Maduro's party and its allies, while just 13.8% favoured two opposition candidates who chose not to boycott. More than 2,000 people, including protesters, election workers, and political activists, have been arrested since Maduro's disputed re-election, according to human rights groups.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Maduro triumphs in Venezuelan election boycotted by opposition
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's governing party has swept parliamentary and regional elections that were boycotted by the opposition. Preliminary results released by the National Electoral Council (CNE) on Monday showed that the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its allies won 82.68 percent of votes cast the previous day for seats in the National Assembly. That result ensures that the party will maintain control of key levers of power, including the attorney general's office and the country's top court, whose members are elected by the 285-seat assembly. CNE also said that 23 out of 24 state governor positions were won by the government flagging a setback for the opposition, which previously controlled four states. Turnout in the elections was 8.9 million or roughly 42 percent of 21 million voters eligible to cast their ballots. CNE chief Carlos Quintero noted that was the same figure as in the 2021 elections. However, the country's main opposition leaders had urged voters to boycott the election in protest over July's 2024 presidential election. The opposition insists that it won that race but authorities declared Maduro the winner. Opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado declared in a post on X late on Sunday that in some areas of the country, up to 85 percent of eligible voters snubbed the election, which she slammed as an 'enormous farce that the regime is trying to stage to bury its defeat' in last year's election. Maduro, however, shrugged off the boycott. 'When the opponent withdraws from the field, we advance and occupy the terrain,' he said to journalists and social media posts, turnout was noticeably low in Venezuela's main cities. Still, images posted by the government party showed scores of people lining up to vote in areas like Trujillo and the Amazons. Al Jazeera's Teresa Bo, reporting from Argentina, noted that during the campaign, the opposition had been divided on the boycott call, making it difficult to present a more forceful challenge against Maduro. She added that most analysts have said that they 'could not guarantee if the elections were free and fair'. Tensions were high on Sunday, with more than 400,000 security agents deployed to monitor the vote and more than 70 people arrested. Among those detained was leading opposition member Juan Pablo Guanipa on charges of heading a 'terrorist network' that planned to 'sabotage' the vote. The government, which has warned of foreign-backed coup plots many times in the past, said dozens of suspected mercenaries had entered the country from Colombia, prompting the closure of the busy border with its neighbour until after the election. Maduro's success in recent elections comes despite the decline of the economy, once the envy of Latin America, following years of mismanagement and sanctions, with more on the way. United States President Donald Trump has recently revoked permission for oil giant Chevron to continue pumping Venezuelan crude, potentially depriving Maduro's administration of a vital economic lifeline. Washington has also revoked deportation protection from 350,000 Venezuelan migrants in the US and expelled hundreds of others to a maximum security prison in El Salvador.
Arab Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Arab Times
Many Venezuelan voters, frustrated, skip election for lawmakers and governors
CARACAS, Venezuela, May 26, (AP): Venezuelans still reeling from the outcome of last year's presidential election did not respond Sunday to government calls to get out and vote for lawmakers, governors and other officials. That left voting centers practically empty at times and put officials on the defensive. The election, which the political opposition urged people to boycott, was the first to allow broad voter participation since the presidential contest that President Nicolás Maduro claimed to have won last year despite credible evidence to the contrary. It took place two days after the government detained dozens of people, including a prominent opposition leader, and linked them to an alleged plot to hinder the vote. Members of the military throughout the day outnumbered voters at many polling centers in the capital, Caracas, where no lines formed outside in stark contrast with the enthusiasm of the July presidential election, when some people lined up for hours. But senior government officials insisted polling centers saw such overwhelming participation on Sunday that they had to remain open past the scheduled 12 hours of operation. Electoral authorities said 42.66% of registered voters cast ballots across the country. Some 21.4 million people were registered, meaning the National Electoral Council claimed that about 9.12 million voters participated. Voter participation, in the eyes of the opposition, legitimizes Maduro's claim to power and his government's repressive apparatus, which after the July presidential election detained more than 2,000 people including protesters, poll workers, political activists and minors, to quash dissent. "I'm not going to vote,' truck driver Carlos León, 41, said standing near a desolate polling station in downtown Caracas. "I don't believe in the (electoral authority). I don't think they'll respect the vote. Nobody forgets what happened in the presidential elections. It's sad, but it's true.' A nationwide poll conducted between April 29 and May 4 by the Venezuela-based research firm Delphos showed that only 15.9% of voters expressed a high probability of voting Sunday. Of those, 74.2% said they would vote for the candidates of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela and its allies, while 13.8% said they would vote for contenders associated with two opposition leaders who are not boycotting the elections. "Today, we witnessed an event that attempted to disguise itself as an election, but failed to deceive the country or the world,' Edmundo González, who is recognized by the United States and several other countries as the winner of the July presidential election, posted on X. "What the world saw today was an act of civic courage. A silent but powerful declaration that the desire for change, dignity, and a future remains intact,' he added.
