Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after registering his candidacy with the National Electoral Council (CNE) for the upcoming July 28 presidential elections. Caracas, March 25, 2024. Photo: Presidential Press.
This Monday, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro went to the National Electoral Council (CNE) headquarters in Caracas to formally register his candidacy for the presidential elections scheduled for July 28. He officially registered his candidacy after joining his supporters on a massive march on Bolívar Avenue in Caracas.
The Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, followed the Electoral Processes Law by delivering the application form to nominate Maduro, issued by the CNE’s automated system, to the electoral body’s Board of Directors.
President Maduro thanked his PSUV grassroots supporters, who nominated him as a presidential candidate while presenting his governance plan to the CNE. There, he said, “I love this country infinitely. I learned as a child to cultivate loyalty and happiness with my loved ones and to protect them, defend them, and respect them above my own life if necessary.”
President Maduro noted that the 10 political parties comprising the Great Simón Bolívar Patriotic Pole supported his nomination, as did the Future Movement organization. He stated that nearly 5 million PSUV members nominated him in 317,000 assemblies throughout the country.
“Almost 5 million women and men of this land drew up their assembly minutes, gave their reasons, their strength, their truth to nominate the name of this man from Caracas, this ordinary person, this person from the neighborhoods, this humble worker, as a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic,” said Maduro.
He added that he dedicated himself to listening to the reasons, arguments, analysis, and perspectives presented in the process. He further highlighted the “epic of the heroic people” and the appreciation of the human essence of “the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial battle” that is currently being fought.
“I was filled with pride by the awareness and sense of history that our beloved people of Venezuela have,” said President Maduro. “They expressed their willingness to constitutionally nominate my name, upholding the simplest and, at the same time, the highest human values, which I consider to be a loving reward that I never expected but that fills me with strength, life, energy, love to continue fighting for our country and for the future of all.”
He remarked on the courage of the people who have overcome the 930 illegal sanctions and unilateral coercive measures imposed by the US government. “I am made of the same blessed neighborhoods as yours, made of the blessed neighborhoods of the people. And with their resistance and perseverance, the people have been my intellectual teacher, spiritual guide, physical and moral support, and my only reason for existence since I began revolutionary militancy of my own free will at 12 years old.”
President Maduro went to the CNE, accompanied by his wife, Cilia Flores, the PSUV high command, and the board of directors of the Great Patriotic Pole and Future Movement.
PSUV Vice President Diosdado Cabello and President of the National Assembly Jorge Rodriguez were the most visible members of the Chavista leadership joining the Venezuelan president.
New Vente Venezuela plot
During the march supporting Maduro’s candidacy, a new assassination plot was unveiled by Venezuelan authorities. The head of the Caracas government, Nahum Fernández, reported the arrest of three individuals with explosives at the march.
He explained that one of the subjects was in Plaza Diego Ibarra, where the march ended. The other was on Bolívar Avenue, and the third was in the march that left from the Cantv headquarters.
Upon leaving the CNE headquarters, President Maduro reported that the criminals apprehended for the thwarted bomb attack against him, which would have occurred in the middle of the march, are members of the political organization Vente Venezuela.
“Today, they were arrested. They have already testified, and they are from the Vente Venezuela party. They were captured today at the march,” he said, referring to the three individuals who were arrested at the march.
“They [the far right] have not and will not be able to defeat us. They are against the homeland. They are the oligarchy,” Maduro said, adding that he was not just a candidate, but that he represents the people.
(Alba Ciudad) with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
