Venezuelan Election Fraud: The Controversial 2013 and 2018 Presidential Elections

2024-03-25 02:38:56

April 14, 2013. Hugo Chávez had died a month earlier and Venezuelans had to go to the polls to elect his successor. During his lifetime, he had already decided that his candidate should be Nicolás Maduro, his vice president and chancellor for seven years. On the opposition side, the candidate of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition was Henrique Capriles, and one of the most promising anti-Chavista politicians.

The official results indicated that Maduro won by a very small margin (about 223 thousand votes), with 50.61% support, while his opponent reached 49.12%, a figure that was always suspicious.

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“They stole my victory. “These guys stole the elections,” Capriles kept saying, whose requests for audits and reviews only fell on deaf ears.

Henrique Capriles and Nicolás Maduro faced each other in the 2013 elections in Venezuela. (Photo by LEO RAMIREZ – RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP).

Eleven years later, it is now known that the figures were altered and that the regime managed to make more votes for Maduro appear in the electronic system (around 600,000), despite the fact that until 6 p.m. on April 14 Capriles had already statistically won the elections, according to the book “Bumerán Chávez” by journalist Emili Blasco of the Spanish newspaper ABC.

Nicolás Maduro thus began his first six-year term and on July 28, 2024, he hopes to be elected for the third time. Several elections have occurred since then – parliamentary, regional and the 2018 presidential election – and the methods of Chavismo-Madurismo have not changed much. Although they have conceded defeats, such as the 2015 parliamentary and some regional ones, the regime has dedicated itself to disqualifying uncomfortable candidates, arresting opponents and reinterpreting the law so as not to grant power.

Nicolás Maduro gestures while voting in Caracas, on April 14, 2013. (Photo: AFP).

“Between that 2013 election and the 2015 parliamentary elections, which the government lost overwhelmingly, Chavismo came to the conclusion that it had lost the electoral base it had previously enjoyed,” the Venezuelan lawyer and political analyst explains to El Comercio. , Luis Salamanca.

A year earlier, Chávez had won the elections – also against Capriles – with 55% of the votes. But in 2013, Maduro lost about 750 thousand Chavista votes. “Having this evidence, the regime oriented itself towards an anti-electoral practice to finish liquidating the last democratic link, which is competitive elections,” says Salamanca, who was also rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE). “Competitiveness has disappeared because that is a measurement between the real political forces that operate in a democratic country. If the State introduces a bias that excludes that opposing force that can defeat it, you end up with competitiveness, which is what matters.”

A man holds a newspaper that refers to the victory of re-elected President Nicolás Maduro in the Venezuelan presidential elections in Caracas, on May 21, 2018. (Photo by Luis ROBAYO/AFP).

The irregularities of 2018

To continue understanding how the government has continued to operate in the presidential campaigns, it is also necessary to remember what happened in 2018, elections that were not even recognized by the international community and in which the opposition did not participate, considering that they could not endorse a null process. In fact, for that election the MUD was outlawed and subsequently dissolved.

With Leopoldo López imprisoned and Capriles prevented from running, the regime was also responsible for altering deadlines and procedures that made the presentation of a competitive opposition candidate unfeasible. Finally, Henri Falcón, a former governor almost unknown to Venezuelans, appeared, who obtained 20.93% of the votes. Maduro won with 67.84% in an election that had a very low participation of the population: only 46% went to vote, while in 2013 the figure was around 80%.

“Right now I am a president and a better prepared human being,” said Maduro after winning elections tailored to him. Because not only was the opposition annulled, but methods of coercion and tracking were also used against those beneficiaries of social programs, mostly Chavistas, so that they came to vote for the government.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado (left) gestures with her replacement for the next presidential elections, Corina Yoris. (Photo by Federico Parra/AFP).

A coup de effect

Thus, by 2024 the government is not expected to opt for a clean process. María Corina Machado managed, with more than 90% support in the primaries, to be the designated candidate of the opposition, but being disqualified, she gave up her position last Friday to the philosopher and historian Corina Yoris, an 80-year-old academic, in order to not allowing Maduro to run alone in the elections.

The decision was surprising because Yoris is not a political figure and is not known among the population, but she is a reputable member of civil society and does not have any pending matters with the Chavista justice system. However, there are days left to know if the electoral body has any arguments up its sleeve to also annul her candidacy.

“We must not forget that Maduro is electorally weak, so there are still things at stake,” warns Salamanca.

Besides…

Various stages

From March 21 to Monday the 25th, candidates have a deadline to present their applications to the National Electoral Council.

Between March 28 and April 1, the CNE will admit or reject applications.

Between April 1 and April 20, nominations may be modified and substituted so that they are reflected on the electoral ballot.

Between April 2 and 6, appeals may be filed against the decision of admission, rejection or non-submission of applications.

Between April 9 and 18, in the event that there are appeals against the applications, the CNE must report its decision on whether they proceed or not.

Nicolas Maduro. (AFP).
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