On October 7, Venezuelans get to choose between Bolivarianism under Chavez and Henrique Capriles Radonski’s corporatism they rejected resoundingly in 1998.
Polls show they’ll do it again. IVAD late August results show Chavez ahead 55% to 34%. Only 10% of Venezuelans are undecided.
Eight major July polls showed Chavez leading by 15 – 27%. Subsequent ones weeks later revealed his support remains strong. Few doubt October’s outcome. At issue is only by how much. On December 16, regional elections follow.
In late August, Chavez warned that opposition forces plan to declare victory before electoral results are announced. They’ll say they won, reject National Electoral Council (CNE) totals, and claim fraud.
They’ll call for violence, destabilization and US help. “They are gearing up….with some allies in the world, some media, some social organizations to claim victory,” said Chavez. “We know they are capable of anything.”
He urged respect for official results, adding:
“We will support the National Electoral Council. We call on all sectors to respect the referee, the Constitution, the laws.”
Capriles’ economic advisor, Ricardo Hausmann, said his campaign will announce its own results independently of official ones.
Ultimas Noticias editor Eleazar Diza Rangel said they’ll “claim fraud (and won’t) recognize the people’s will.”
Since Chavez took office in February 1999, 15 national and regional elections were held. Independent observers declared them open, free and fair. America’s Carter Center calls Venezuela’s electoral system one of the world’s most reliable.
Around 200 or more international observers will monitor October 7 voting. Expect confirmation of another exemplary democratic process. It puts America’s to shame and then some. US federal and many regional ones lack legitimacy. Big money controls them. Ordinary people have no say.
Venezuelans get the real thing. They’re not about to accept pre-Chavez harshness. They want no part of corporatism at their expense.
The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign published a report saying a leaked internal right wing document revealed plans to roll back public services if elected.
It calls for reducing state funding. Health care, education, food subsidies, housing assistance, communal council projects, and other programs Venezuelans rely on will be affected.
The document titled “First Ideas for Economic Actions of the National Unity Government” calls for “concrete steps to decrease, in the medium and long term, the heavy load of goods and services” by slashing overall social spending.
Privatizations and neoliberal harshness are planned. What Venezuelans rejected years ago they want reinstated. They plan presidential diktat authority to enforce it. They want to “dismantle the socialized and collectivized state model.” Their plan replicates IMF financial terrorism.