Henrique Capriles (right) and Manuel Rosales (left). Photo: El Nacional.
Rumors about a possible pact between Primero Justicia (PJ, Justice First) and Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT, a New Era) are gaining more strength. Next week, PJ cofounder and primary candidate Henrique Capriles will meet with the governor of the state of Zulia, Manuel Rosales of UNT, to “build the winning unit.”
Capriles arrived in Zulia state Saturday, August 26, as part of his electoral campaign for the internal elections of the opposition. He took advantage of this stop to meet with the governor. The mayor of Maracaibo, Rafael Ramírez, and the leader of PJ, Tomás Guanipa, were also present at the meeting. In 2017, Capriles was banned from holding public office by Venezuela’s government for involvement in criminal activities.
“Tonight I came with our mayor of Maracaibo, Rafael Ramírez, to visit Governor Manuel Rosales, strengthening the unity of Zulia and all of our Venezuela. The Zulianos and Venezuelans together are going to move forward,” Capriles wrote via social media.
For his part, Manuel Rosales described the meeting as the construction of the winning group heading to the primaries on October 22.
En la construcción de la unidad ganadora, rumbo a la primaria del 22 de octubre. pic.twitter.com/Qlamuczhcl
— Manuel Rosales (@manuelrosalesg) August 27, 2023
UNT does not have a candidate for the internal elections of the opposition, although it has stated that it would participate in the process by supporting a candidate.
This meeting could be the first step to finalizing a pact between both parties, as PJ would need the votes of UNT to be closer to an electoral victory.
A possible political pact between both parties is not something new. At the beginning of August, the first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, spoke of this possibility.
During his program Con el Mazo Dando, Cabello revealed that opposition leaders Manuel Rosales and Henrique Capriles were negotiating. On repeated occasions, Cabello expressed his belief that one of the two would be the opposition candidate for the 2024 presidential elections.
If an alliance between UNT and PJ materializes, the party of Manuel Rosales must provide the National Commission of Primaries (CNP) a written declaration of support so that the parties’ votes will be given to Capriles.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
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