One thing I can’t understand is this:
Everyone in Venezuela knows that the State is fully behind the candidate of the ruling party, that is, chavismo. It was like this when Hugo Chávez was alive, and it continues to be so. All Venezuelan institutions are controlled by chavismo. The Armed Forces are fully aligned with chavismo. All state funds are managed by chavismo. Four out of five directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) are chavistas—these aren’t hidden chavistas; they are completely open and public. Congress is controlled by chavismo. The Judiciary is merely an extension of chavismo. 21 out of 23 states are governed by chavistas. The State, directly or indirectly, controls a vast network of community radios, television channels, and the most widely read newspapers in the country (Últimas Noticias and El Mundo). Moreover, the voter registry in Venezuela hasn’t been independently audited since 2005, and the Smartmatic electronic voting system was last independently audited in November 2005.
Despite all this, Henrique Capriles ran against Hugo Chávez last year, pretending that everything was kosher on the electoral front. At that time, one of his collaborators (Ramón Guillermo Aveledo) irresponsibly lied to his electorate, falsely claiming that the “electoral system had been sufficiently audited.” This year, Capriles faced Nicolás Maduro, adopting a more confrontational tone. Judging by the election results, the combination of Chávez’s death with a decline in everyday life and a more aggressive tact gave Capriles a few thousand more votes and brought him closer to victory. That said, the argument that Nicolás Maduro lacks legitimacy to govern because he received 230,000 more votes than Capriles is, frankly, absurd—unless, of course, Capriles’ team provides irrefutable proof.
Maduro received more votes than Capriles, that’s it, end of story. You simply cannot enter a race accepting that everything is against you, and when you lose, turn around and say, “we do not recognize this result,” as Capriles said yesterday. That is an unsustainable position because Capriles knew, before entering the race, that everything was stacked against him. He knew that the State was fully behind Maduro. He knew that Maduro’s appointment was unconstitutional. He knew that all of Maduro’s actions since January 10 were illegitimate. He knew that no public resources would be spared to secure Maduro’s election. Yet, he participated, “hoping” to come out victorious. Hoping? Reread the first paragraph. How could victory be “hoped for” when, in fact, the political realities described above have not changed? How can someone, knowing all that, enter a race and then shout illegitimacy at the winner? Why is Maduro illegitimate today, but was not when Capriles announced his candidacy? Capriles and his team should have addressed this earlier. Not today, not now. A proverbial case of “too little, too late.”
Absolutely senseless. Awful. Shameful. That’s what it is. This is not a situation where two political parties share political and institutional power in similar amounts. Far from it. This is a situation where one party controls everything and the other controls nothing, regardless of how many votes were cast yesterday. Maduro doesn’t need to invite Capriles to a round of tough political negotiations to reach a compromise that would allow him to govern Venezuela. No. This isn’t Cameron and Clegg. Rather, it’s chavismo, as always, pulling all the levers of power.
What about Capriles’ election as Governor of Miranda? The electoral scenario then was as dubious as it is today. Is he calling himself illegitimate? Besides, is he questioning the legitimacy of his own votes from yesterday? What about other governors and mayors in power? And what about the opposition representatives (in the minority) in Congress, elected under the same system and conditions—are they illegitimate too?
Therefore, I can’t help but express disdain for Henrique Capriles’ irresponsible antics. He may not be the brightest bulb, but he has been in politics long enough to understand that once the die is cast, there’s no turning back.