Venezuela Election 2024 | Nicolás Maduro | Maria Corina Machado | Korina Yoris | Venezuela and a new scam? How Nicolás Maduro rigged the elections to suit him | CNE | the world

April 14, 2013. Hugo Chavez He died less than a month ago, and Venezuelans had to go to the polls to choose his successor. In life, he had already decided that he was his candidate Nicolás Maduro, his vice-president and principal for seven years. On the opposition side, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) coalition candidate Henry Caprilesand one of the most promising anti-Savista politicians.

According to the official results Maduro He won by a very narrow margin (about 223 thousand votes) with 50.61% support, while his opponent got 49.12%, a Always a suspicious figure.

WATCH: How Princess Catherine's illness further complicates British royal family?

“They stole my success. “They stole the election” I didn't stop talking CaprilisDemands for audits and reviews fell on deaf ears.

Eleven years later It is already known that the figures have been changed And the government was able to make more votes appear in the electronic system Maduro (about 600 thousand), although on that April 14 until 6 pm Caprilis According to the book “Pomeranian Chávez” written by journalist Emily Blasco of the Spanish newspaper ABC, he had already won the election statistically.

This is how Nicolás Maduro began his first six-year term And on July 28, 2024, he hopes to be elected for a third term. Several elections have taken place since then – parliamentary, regional and the 2018 presidential election – and the methods of Chavismo-Madurismo have not changed much. Although they admit failures like the 2015 parliamentary and some regional failures, The regime has committed itself to disqualifying inconvenient candidates, arresting opponents, and reinterpreting the law in ways that disempower it.

“Between those 2013 elections and the 2015 parliamentary elections, the government failed massively and came to the conclusion that Chavismo had lost the electoral base it had previously enjoyed,” he explained. Trade Venezuelan lawyer and political analyst, Luis Salamanca.

A year ago, Chavez Won the election – and against Caprilis– with 55% votes. But in that 2013, Maduro He lost about 750 thousand Chavista votes. “With this evidence, the regime turned itself towards the anti-electoral practice, competitive elections, to dissolve the last democratic link,” says Salamanca. National Electoral Council (CNE). “Competitiveness has disappeared because that is the measure between the real political forces at work in a democracy. If the state introduces a dependency that excludes that opposing force that can defeat it, you end up with competitiveness, and that's what matters.

Irregularities of 2018

To understand how the government continues to engage in presidential election campaigns, it is important to remember what happened in 2018, elections that were not recognized even by the international community and in which the opposition did not participate. Recognize a null process. truly, The MUD was outlawed for that election and later disbanded.

cheater Leopoldo Lopez Prisoner and Caprilis Barred from applying, the regime was also responsible for changing deadlines and procedures so that a rival opposition party could not field a candidate. Finally, it was delivered Henry FalconThe former governor is virtually unknown to the Venezuelan people who won 20.93% of the vote. Maduro He won with 67.84% in an election with a very low turnout of the population: only 46% went to the polls, compared to 80% in 2013.

“Now I am a president and a better prepared man,” Maduro said After winning the elections to suit him. Because not only was opposition suppressed, coercion and surveillance methods were used against the beneficiaries of social programs, mostly Chavistas, so that they came to vote for the government.

A coup effect

Therefore, the government is not expected to opt for a clean process by 2024. María Corina Machado won the primaries as the nominated candidate of the opposition, with over 90% support. But after he was disqualified, he gave up his post to the philosopher and history teacher last Friday Corina YorisAn 80-year-old academic, for not allowing Maduro He should contest the election alone.

Because this result was surprising Yoris He is not a political figure and he is not known among the people, but he is a respected member of civil society and has no pending matter with the Chavista justice system. However, there are still days to know if the Election Commission has any arguments to cancel his nomination.

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