Featured image: PSUV vice president Diosdado Cabello in his TV program Con El Mazo Dando. Photo: Twitter/@RedRadioVe.
The first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, spoke about the ongoing instability and internal conflicts within three extreme-right opposition parties: Voluntad Popular (VP), Primero Justicia (PJ), and Vente Venezuela.
On Wednesday, April 26, during his TV program Con El Mazo Dando, Cabello stated that “there is nothing left” of the VP party, not only due to the evasion of its “candidate” for the primaries, Juan Guaidó, but also because of the accelerating departure of other leaders from the far-right party.
He then brought up the case of the former mayor of Chacao, Emilio Graterón, who has now joined the campaign of businessman Benjamín Rausseo. Additionally, another possible candidate, former AN member Freddy Superlano, has garnered disapproval from the few remaining leaders of VP and has also been disqualified by the electoral authorities of Venezuela.
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Cabello stated that the real reason behind Guaidó’s evasion is the people’s rejection and animosity toward him for his role in the failed coup attempt.
As for the PJ party, Diosdado Cabello stated that Henrique Capriles is threatening to call for abstention if he is not allowed to be the candidate.
#ATENCIÓN | Diosdado Cabello en @ConElMazoDando revela que en una reunión interna de Voluntad Popular, Leopoldo López se opuso a que el candidato sea Freddy Superlano porque tiene intenciones de negociar con María Corina Machado. pic.twitter.com/yfwjSWI9su
— REDRADIOVE (@RedRadioVe) April 27, 2023
Cabello commented that Capriles, who is currently on tour as pre-candidate, travels to the localities in separate vans and shows disgust when he has to eat with the other members of his own party.
Internal quarrels within PJ are not new; in fact, they had been widespread since even before Capriles was announced as the party’s official candidate for the primaries, as exemplified by Juan Pablo Guanipa and Carlos Ocariz fighting over the candidacy.
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Vente Venezuela, another far-right party, has been desperate to gain acceptance among the population. This is evidenced by the fact that the party allocates 90% of its budget to candidate María Corina Machado’s social media advertising campaign.
Cabello then demonstrated that Vente Venezuela pays for Twitter bot accounts to rouse favorable opinions online.
Machado has called on former opposition leaders, such as Jorge Carvajal of Bolívar state and Enzo Scarano of Carabobo state, to support her in exchange for public praise and approval from her party.
“Those who reject her are lynched in the media. She acts like a terrorist—if you are not with her, then you are evil, the antichrist,” Cabello noted.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/KZ
