Journalist Explains Venezuelan Opposition’s Organizational Failure

In a recent interview, opposition sympathizer journalist and specialist in electoral matters Celina Carquez explained the organizational failure of the Venezuelan opposition sector that has nominated Edmundo González Urrutia as its candidate.

Carquez focused on the failure of the Unitary Platform (PUD) and Vente Venezuela to nominate witnesses for voting tables, a crucial figure in the process.

“Although there has been much talk about the campaign commands and information has circulated that nearly 50,000 members are registered, the reality is that, 55 days before July 28, the number of the electoral witnesses who will be present in the voting centers is quite low. In some states, the figures are alarming,” she said.

According to the journalist, only 67% of the voting tables will have a witness from the PUD and Vente Venezuela. Meanwhile, 35% will have two witnesses from them. This means a deficit of witnesses for 9,913 tables, approximately 35% of the voting centers.

The data becomes even more dramatically negative for the far right when specific states are considered. In Zulia, 52% of the centers will not have any witnesses from the aforementioned parties. In Miranda state, this figure reaches 42%. In the Capital District of Caracas, where the opposition expects to cover all voting tables, 5% of witnesses still need to be designated. In Amazonas and Aragua, approximately 33% of the voting centers will lack PUD witnesses.

Not only is there a lack of personnel in the opposition ranks to execute the observation of the polling stations, but the current staff is not properly trained for their function, Carquez said in the interview.

“Elections are not won with rallies and marches. Elections are won at the polling stations,” she commented. “In a surprise visit made by Maduro, together with the president of the National Assembly, he made it clear that they [PSUV witnesses] are not going to leave the voting centers until they win. We are talking about a government with a well-oiled electoral machinery, with an electoral intelligence and an almost infallible system. And 55 days before the elections, you [the opposition] do not have enough witnesses, and those you have are not trained.”

Carquez also criticized the lack of unity and coordination among opposition parties.

“There are parties that are not working, that are doing absolutely nothing, and others, I guess, that have a lot of arrogance and believe that they don’t need help,” she criticized. “They believe that they do not need help, that the other parties only have to register the campaign command members… They are leaving aside people who have 25 years of experience in the voting tables.”

Carquez placed particular emphasis on Vente Venezuela’s attitude. The party has never tested its electoral machinery but prefers to unilaterally control the process instead of reaching a consensus with parties with more experience in electoral matters.

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In another article dealing with the same subject, she specifically highlighted the inaction of two parties: Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT) and Democratic Action (AD).

“In the case of UNT, the number of tables without witnesses in Zulia is an indicator, given that the state governor is Manuel Rosales, and that party governs,” she wrote. “As for the AD led by Henry Ramos Allup, there is no explanation for why they are not working for the presidential elections.”

She further highlighted logistical and political problems surrounding the assignment of witnesses to electoral centers, the description of their functions, and training, where tensions and confrontations among Vente Venezuela, PUD, and UNT are evident.

In addition to the deficit of practical knowledge in the electoral field in which the PUD has mired itself by giving control to María Corina Machado, who has historically had a tendency towards abstentionism and confrontation, the opposition’s triumphalist narrative is not based on the realistic projections for the elections, and opposition analysts are pointing this out.

Francisco Bello, president of the pollster Pronóstico, stated that according to his consultant’s estimates, President Nicolás Maduro has a base of five million votes for July 28. Thus, he urged the opposition “not to fall into triumphalism.”

Francisco Bello pide “no caer en triunfalismo”: “Nicolás Maduro tiene hoy cinco millones de votos”.
“La oposición tiene entre siete y ocho millones de votos entre los cuales ‘pescar’”, afirmó. https://t.co/EkzlaqcUsW pic.twitter.com/EZJjGdFh4x
— AlbertoRodNews (@AlbertoRodNews) June 4, 2024

Celina Carquez was correct in stating that to achieve electoral victory, the organization of the electoral machinery is more important than the calls for marches. In this area, the Chavista forces have much more experience and efficient results than the opposition forces, who have been on the paths of demobilization, abstentionism, and political violence for the last several years.

With time running against them for forming a solid electoral strategy integrating various factions, the opposition leadership has an uphill task if they want to achieve the victory they have advertised. Consequently, the not-at-all-surprising scenario of the opposition disregarding the results and the electoral authorities is becoming increasingly plausible. This scenario could lead to a new cycle of political violence, to which the opposition is adequately accustomed.

(Misión Verdad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/SC/SF