By Jaime Ortega.
Henrique Capriles, after election.
After the death of Hugo Chavez in March, the political party ‘Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela’ (PSUV) was left under significant pressure to substitute Chavez, since he was a remarkable figure for his supporters and allies.
The acting President, and successor of Chavez, Nicolas Maduro had to hold imminent elections after his death, but doubts surrounded his political opponents as to how these elections would prevail.
Candidate and rival, Henrique Capriles, had lots to say after Maduro announced his victory in Venezuela’s RCTV, “If you make that coward proclamation, you are an illegitimate candidate.”
“We got reports that some boxes full with ballots moved from one place to another without explanation,” Capriles said.
Recognizing that Venezuela is in a state of “political crisis” Capriles argued that his wish is that the situation be resolved.
“This struggle has not ended,” Capriles said. “We are not going to recognize a result until each Venezuelan vote is counted,” assuring that Maduro, besides the CNE can ask the recount to assure that no form of manipulation was practiced during cast of ballots.
Maduro, despite Capriles controversial accusations responded, “If I win by one vote, I won.”
In Caracas, troops dispersed a crowd of protesters. Twelve students who protested against Maduro’s election were reportedly injured in Barquisimeto, a city in the middle of the country.
Images spread by Twitter showed injured protesters being carried away. The scale of the unrest as yet is hard to verify.
Maduro initially stated that he was willing to accept a recount. On Monday, however, the council – which is skewed towards the ruling camp – said the result was irreversible and proclaimed Maduro as President that same day. An inauguration is set for 19 April.
With no sign of a recount taking place, the decision has sparked outrage among opposition supporters, not just Capriles.
The European Union (EU) on Monday noted the victory of Maduro, as announced in Venezuela, but stressed the importance of having an acceptable outcome to all parties after the opposition announced to recount the votes.
“It is important that the outcome of an election is accepted by all parties,” said spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic Community Affairs.
“If the National Electoral Council (CNE) decides to ensure trust to its voters, it must show total transparency, especially in view of the low margin victory the results have shown,” the spokeswoman said.
But if the EU is asking for a legitimate recount, Venezuela’s political allies are not interested in an electoral recount that could propose any form of fraudulent result.
Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Nicolas Maduro on his victory.
Putin expressed his “confidence that under the leadership of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela can continue to strengthen their strategic partnership relations with Russia.”
The Kremlin chief reiterated Russia’s readiness to, “develop a constructive dialogue on the full range of bilateral and international issues in the interest of both countries and their peoples.”
The ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) also congratulated Maduro’s victory.
At a press conference the spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of AAEE, Hua Chunying said, “We respect the choice made by the Venezuelan people and welcome Maduro on his election as President. ” This was said just a few hours after the announcement of the narrow victory of the man Hugo Chavez appointed as his successor.
The White House is not keen in congratulating Chavez’s successor, as the Obama and Bush administrations have never held a healthy relationship with the PSUV.
The US Presidential spokesman, Jay Carney, recalled in a press conference that “the opposition candidate and at least one member of the Electoral Council have called for a review of one hundred percent of the votes.”
Carney said that a step to count is “important, prudent and necessary” to ensure that all Venezuelans have “confidence” in the results coming out of the polls.
“In our opinion, the rush to make a decision under these circumstances would not fit the expectations of Venezuelans for a clear and democratic resolution,” said Carney.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said that the outcome of the elections in Venezuela and the narrow victory of Nicolas Maduro “certifies strong polarization” in the South American country.
Speaking to reporters before attending a luncheon with business leaders organized by the House of Barcelona, Margallo is confident that the election results should be confirmed as soon as possible to maintain the good relations between Spain and Venezuela “whoever the final winner is.”
The President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, on Monday quickly responded to concerns and criticism from Spain against Venezuelan elections.
“The people spoke as to whom to elect as President, and it was the candidate of the PSUV,” Maduro said.
“The Government of Spain would do well to only deal with their own problems, which equal many,” Cabello said.
Cabello wrote a message on Twitter in which he also noted that “for years this great country (Venezuela) has ceased to be a colony.”
However, Cabello, whom many consider Maduro’s main rival within their own political movement, tweeted, “The results oblige us to make a profound self-criticism.”
Maduro has missed almost 680,000 votes since the election last October in which his predecessor, the late Chavez, claimed a victory over opposition candidate Capriles.
With 99.1% of the votes counted, failing to meet the vote of Venezuelans abroad, Maduro has obtained 50.67% of the vote (7,505,338 votes), compared to 49.07% (7,270,403) of Capriles, so they’re both separated only by 234,935 votes.
The result is a loss of 679,099 votes that would have supported Chavez this time to Capriles. According to the newspaper El Universal, since 2006 the opposition won nearly three million votes going from 4,321,072 votes in 2006 to 7,270,403 this Sunday.
But outside of Maduro’s election, whether fraudulent or not, his connection with the paramilitary FARC could propose a threat to his relationship with neighboring countries like Colombia which has had troubles with the PSUV in the past.
Univision found that Maduro had ties with FARC, ”Maduro had close ties with FARC leaders, in particular with the late commander Raul Reyes and named Chancellor of the FARC, Rodrigo Granda, at least since late 2001 when he was deputy Maduro.”
“The government candidate is mentioned twenty times in a series of messages between different factions of the guerrillas, between 2002 and 2008, according to the computer files of Reyes published in 2011 by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, based in London.”
Maduro’s relation with the FARC could propose a threat to Colombia in an attempt to hold peaceful negotiations with the new Venezuelan leader.
Rodrigo Granda, alias Ricardo Tellez, leader of the (FARC) rejected any difficulty at the table of dialogue between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
“Certainly a win, as expected for Nicolás Maduro, is a guarantee to support the peace process in Colombia, which is a process that favors the whole continent,” said Granda (one of the key negotiators of the FARC) in conversations with the government of President Juan Manuel Santos.
Juan Manuel Santos, President of Colombia, has remain silent on Maduro’s victory. But earlier this year he said, “I hope that if President Chavez dies, Vice President Maduro will maintain the same collaboration that President Chavez gave us to fight against the FARC.”
What happens with FARC will imply collaboration from Venezuela and Colombia in order to maintain stability on the region and prevent guerrillas from expanding further north.
But some fear that the real danger in Venezuela is the struggle between dictatorship and democracy which could lead into civil war.
Capriles said, “the Cuban government will not rule in Venezuela,” and that the Venezuelan people would defend their sovereignty.
