2012 Venezuelan presidential election

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2012 Venezuelan presidential election
Flag of Venezuela (state).svg
←  2006 7 October 2012 (2012-10-07) 2013  →
Turnout80.20%
  Hugo Chavez 2011 cropped.jpg Henrique Capriles Radonski from Margarita island.jpg
Candidate Hugo Chávez Henrique Capriles
Party PSUV PJ
Alliance GPPSB MUD
Popular vote8,191,1326,591,304
Percentage55.07%44.32%
Mapa de las elecciones presidenciales de Venezuela de 2012.svg
Results by state
Mapa Eleicoes Venezuela 2012.svg
Results by municipality
President before election

Hugo Chávez
PSUV

Elected President

Hugo Chávez
PSUV

Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 7 October 2012 to choose a president for a six-year term beginning in January 2013. [1]

Contents

After the approval of a constitutional amendment in 2009 that abolished term limits, incumbent Hugo Chávez, representing the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) was able to present himself again as a candidate after his re-election in 2006. His main challenger was Henrique Capriles, Governor of Miranda, representing Justice First. The candidates were backed by opposing electoral coalitions; Chávez by the Great Patriotic Pole (Gran Polo Patriótico, GPP), and Capriles by the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD). There were four more candidates from different parties. [2] Capriles ran an energetic campaign, and visited each of the country's states. Throughout his campaign, Capriles remained confident that he could win the election and be the country's next president [3] despite Chávez leading most polls by large margins. Chavez won the election comfortably, although this was the narrowest margin he ever won by.

Chávez was elected for a fourth term as president of Venezuela with 55.07% of the popular vote, ahead of the 44.31% of Capriles. [4] The elections showed a turnout of above 80%. [5] Capriles conceded defeat as the preliminary results were known. [6] Chávez died only two months into his fourth term.

Electoral process

Since 1998 elections in Venezuela have been highly automated, [7] and administered by a non-partisan National Electoral Council, with poll workers drafted via a lottery of registered voters. Polling places are equipped with multiple high-tech touch-screen DRE voting machines, one to a "mesa electoral", or voting "table". After the vote is cast, each machine prints out a paper ballot, or VVPAT, which is inspected by the voter and deposited in a ballot box belonging to the machine's table. The voting machines perform in a stand-alone fashion, disconnected from any network until the polls close. [8] Voting session closure at each of the voting stations in a given polling center is determined either by the lack of further voters after the lines have emptied, or by the hour, at the discretion of the president of the voting table.

Formal registration

On 10 June 2012, Capriles walked to the election commission to formally register his candidacy, at the head of a march estimated in the hundreds of thousands by international media, while local polling company Hernández Hercon estimated it to between 950,000 and 1,100,000. Capriles had stepped down as Governor of Miranda in early June in order to concentrate on his campaign. [9] [10] [11] [12]

Withdrawals

17 September, opposition candidate Yoel Acosta Chirinos withdrew from presidential election and announced support to president Chavez.[ citation needed ]

Parties

Patriotic Pole

Incumbent president Hugo Chávez Frías announced he would seek re-election at a University Students' Day rally held in Caracas in November 2010. Chávez' first mandate began in 1999, and if he had served the complete 2013–19 term, he would have served 20 years as president, [13] having won four presidential elections. In July 2011, Chávez reaffirmed his intent to run in spite of his battle with cancer. [14]

Chávez was supported by the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP), an electoral coalition led by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV).[ citation needed ]

Democratic Unity

The opposition parties were grouped in the Democratic Unity Roundtable whose candidate was selected through an open primary election held on 12 February 2012. [15] The MUD electoral coalition consists of the parties Justice First (Movimiento Primero Justicia, PJ), Fatherland for All (Patria Para Todos, PPT), Project Venezuela (Proyecto Venezuela), and Popular Will (Voluntad Popular, VP) as the main supporters of Henrique Capriles in the primary elections of February 2012. [15] Other parties in the coalition include A New Era (Un Nuevo Tiempo, UNT), Democratic Action (Acción Democrática, AD), COPEI (Comité de Organización Política Electoral Independiente), and Movement to Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, MAS). [16]

Primary

Capriles won the opposition primaries with 1,900,528 (64.2%) votes of the 3,059,024 votes cast (votes abroad not included). [17] The other candidates on 12 February primary ballot were:

Leopoldo López was barred from running following corruption charges which he denied and for which he was never tried; in 2011, the Interamerican Court of Human Rights overturned the Venezuelan government ruling and said he should be allowed to run. [18] [19] On 24 January, placed "in the awkward position of being able to stand for elections but not hold office", [18] he withdrew his candidacy to support Henrique Capriles. [20] [21]

Candidates César Pérez Vivas (governor of Táchira state), Antonio Ledezma (mayor of the Metropolitan District of Caracas) and Eduardo Fernández (former secretary general of COPEI) withdrew from the race, saying they would support candidates with better chances of winning. [22]

Voter list dispute

A dispute erupted over the disposition of the voter rolls, rising out of concern that opposition voters could incur reprisals. [23] [24] Because the names of voters who had participated in the request of the 2004 recall referendum against Chávez had been made public via the Tascón List and, according to opposition leaders, those voters were later targeted for discrimination or lost jobs, the MUD had guaranteed voter secrecy. [23] [24] On Tuesday 14 February, in response to "a losing mayoral candidate, who asked that the ballots be preserved for review", [25] the Supreme Court of Venezuela ordered the military to collect the voting rolls "so that electoral authorities could use them to investigate alleged irregularities during Sunday's elections". [23]

An attorney for the opposition said that records are to be destroyed within 48 hours by law. [23] Violence broke out as the opposition attempted to prevent police from collecting the names of voters. One young man, Arnaldo Espinoza, was run over and killed by a police tow truck that backed up suddenly, attempting to separate people who were protecting the vehicle belonging to the vice-president of the regional office for the primary elections in the state of Aragua. [26] Later the opposition declared all voter rolls had been destroyed. [23] [24]

Candidate platforms

Chávez

The GlobalPost says that "housing, health and other programs have been the cornerstone" of President Chávez's tenure, who "remains very popular, largely because of the vast number of social programs he put in place, funded by Venezuela's vast oil wealth". [18] According to The Washington Times, Chávez said the opposition represents "the rich and the U.S. government"; as part of his campaign, he increased social spending and investments to benefit the poor, and plans to launch a satellite made in China before the elections. [27]

Capriles

According to Reuters, "Capriles defines himself as a center-left 'progressive' follower of the business-friendly but socially-conscious Brazilian economic model", [28] although he is a member of the center-right [29] [30] [31] Justice First. He has a youthful and populist style, a sports enthusiast who rides a motorbike into the slums, and has broken with the older guard of Venezuelan politicians. [32] Although he comes from a wealthy family, he espouses helping business thrive through a free market while tackling poverty via strong state policies. [32] In an interview with the GlobalPost, Capriles said his campaign was based on "improving education, which he sees as a long-term solution to the country's insecurity and deep poverty". [18] In November 2011, in response to claims from Chavez that the opposition would end the Bolivarian Missions if elected, Capriles said "he would be 'mad' to end" projects like Mission Barrio Adentro, adding that "the missions belong to the people". [33] In February 2012 Capriles insisted he would keep these programs, saying "I want to expand them, and get rid of the corruption and inefficiency that characterizes them." [34]

In early September 2012 David De Lima, a former governor of Anzoátegui, published a document that he said that showed secret MUD plans to implement, if elected, different from what their public statements showed. De Lima said the document was a form of policy pact between some of the candidates in the MUD primary, including Capriles. [35] On 6 September 2012 opposition legislator William Ojeda denounced these plans and the "neoliberal obsessions" of his colleagues in the MUD; [36] he was suspended by his A New Era party the following day. [37] Capriles said that his signature on the document was a forgery,[ citation needed ] while the MUD's economic advisor said that the MUD had "no hidden agenda", and that its plans included the "institutionalisation" of the government's Bolivarian Missions so that they would no longer be "subject to the whims of government". [38] One small coalition party claimed De Lima had offered them money to withdraw from the MUD; [39] De Lima denied the claim. [40]

Campaign

The authority of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) to oversee the election was recognized by the opposition. [27] Chávez said the fairness of the CNE should not be challenged. [27] The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) noted Chávez's popularity among poor Venezuelans, and that "Chávez dominates the nation's mass media, and has been spending lavishly on social programs to sway Venezuelan voters". [25] A January poll placed Chávez's approval rating at 64 percent. [18] In May Rafael Poleo, owner and publisher of El Nuevo País , warned in a column in his newspaper that the MUD candidacy was lagging in the polls because it "ignores that in Venezuela voting is emotional ... and that the people vote for hope", adding that "Chavismo has taken the place in the heart of the people which AD and Copei have vacated." He concluded that "going down this road, I can already tell them the outcome." [41] Capriles criticized Chávez for expropriating private businesses and for the government's use of the state-controlled media; the Washington Times said it will be hard for Capriles to compete with Chávez's "ability to take over the airwaves of all TV and radio stations when he deems appropriate". [27] In June Chávez said he would not engage in an election debate with Capriles, describing him as a "non-entity" he would be "ashamed" to measure himself against. [42]

Funding

It has been reported that funds to social programs increased dramatically before the elections, with Chávez devoting 16% of Venezuela's GDP to the initiatives. [43]

Chávez's health

Prior to the election, Chávez received treatment for cancer in Cuba [44] including radiation, chemotherapy, and two operations. [45] In a Mass during Easter Week 2012, Chávez wept and asked Jesus Christ to give him life; [46] the Associated Press says that although Chávez often praised socialism and atheism, his cancer caused him to turn to Jesus Christ for inspiration and that "... analysts say his increasing religiosity could pay election-year dividends in a country where Catholicism remains influential". [45] He did not reveal the specifics of the type or location of his cancer, but his illness was a factor in election campaigning. [46]

According to Reuters, some journalists sympathetic to the opposition spread information about Chávez's cancer based on claims that they had access to medical sources. [47] Amid speculation about whether he will live through the elections, there was no clear successor. [44] CNN stated "outlines" of a successor were seen in the appointments of two Chávez allies to top posts; [44] Diosdado Cabello as president of the National Assembly of Venezuela and Henry Rangel Silva as minister of defense. [44] Reuters said additional potential successors or placeholders include Chávez's two daughters and Nicolás Maduro, foreign minister. [48] The Venezuelan constitution provides for the president to appoint vice presidents at his discretion, and for the vice president to assume power in the event of the president's death, but according to CNN, the more likely scenarios ranged "from a military coup to Chávez naming Cabello or Maduro vice president before he dies." [44] CNN also said that analysts say Cuban politics had a role in the succession questions, with some Cubans supporting the president's brother, Adán Chávez. [44]

From mid-April to late May 2012, Chávez was only seen in public twice, spending almost six weeks in Cuba for treatment. [47] On 7 May, he responded to criticism that he had left Venezuela in a power vacuum, saying he would be back soon. [48] On 22 May he took part in a live broadcast of a cabinet meeting lasting several hours. [49] He created a new Council of State, fueling rumors that it would act as a committee to help in the event a transition of government was needed. [47]

Allegations

In February 2012 Capriles was subject to what were characterized in the press as "vicious" [25] and "anti-semitic" [50] attacks by state-run media sources. [32] [51] The Wall Street Journal said that Capriles "was vilified in a campaign in Venezuela's state-run media, which insinuated he was, among other things, a homosexual and a Zionist agent". [25] These comments were in response to an opinion piece on the website of the state-owned Radio Nacional de Venezuela , published on 13 February 2012, and to allegations broadcast on La Hojilla relating to an alleged sexual incident in 2000. Titled "The Enemy is Zionism" [52] the Radio Nacional opinion piece noted Capriles' Jewish ancestry and a meeting he had held with local Jewish leaders, [25] [51] [53] saying: "This is our enemy, the Zionism that Capriles today represents ... Zionism, along with capitalism, are responsible for 90% of world poverty and imperialist wars." [25] Capriles is the grandson of Jewish Holocaust survivors [53] and a self-professed devout Catholic. [25] The United States-based organisations Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League condemned the attacks and voiced concern to Chávez, who vowed in 2009 to punish incidents of antisemitism. [50] [54]

In early July 2012 Capriles published a document allegedly showing that the government had ordered all military personnel not to view private television networks. The publication coincided with a Capriles political ad aimed at the military. [55] Based on non-classified military order 4926 from September 2011, the document had been redated to 31 July but was published several weeks before that date, still bearing the original signature of the minister of defense in September 2011, Carlos José Mata Figueroa (who had been replaced in January 2012). The document bore the original document number, and had the "not classified" stamps replaced with "confidential", but retained the original "NOCLAS" ("not classified") classification mark. [56]

Opinion polls

According to Reuters , "Polls are historically controversial in Venezuela", pointing out that "Venezuelan pollsters – who range from a former Chavez minister to an openly pro-opposition figure – also tend to double as political analysts, offering partisan opinions in state media or opposition-linked newspapers." [57] In addition, it said that "As in previous elections, a proliferation of little-known public opinion firms with no discernable track record have emerged from obscurity promoting polls that appear to openly favor one candidate or the other." [57] In June 2012 most pollsters showed Capriles behind by at least 15 percentage points, and intention to vote for Chávez slowly increasing since the end of 2011. One firm, Hinterlaces, was accused by Capriles of publishing "bogus polls". [57] The Chavez campaign accused Datanalisis and Consultores 21 of inventing polls to support opposition plans to claim fraud in the event of defeat. [57]

Although the poll results vary widely, most of the variation is by pollster; results from individual pollsters are quite stable over time. Of the established Venezuelan pollsters, Consultores 21 and Varianzas have consistently shown a close race, while IVAD, GIS XXI, Datanalisis and Hinterlaces have consistently given Chávez a 10 to 20-point lead.

In June the CNE required pollsters publishing polls relating to the election to register with them, and to provide details of their methodology. [58] The list of registered pollsters is available online. [59]

Established Venezuelan pollsters

Voting intention (%)
PollsterPublication dateChávezCaprilesSource
Hinterlaces [60] Jan 20125034 [61]
IVAD [62] Feb 20125730 [63]
HinterlacesMar 20125234 [64]
IVADMar 201256.526.6 [65]
Consultores 21 [66] Mar 20124645 [67]
Datanálisis [68] Mar 201244.731.4 [69]
VarianzasApril 201249.345.1 [70]
GIS XXI [71] May 20125721 [72]
VarianzasMay 201250.545.7 [73]
GIS XXIJune 201257.023.0[ citation needed ]
Consultores 21June 201247.944.5 [74]
HinterlacesJune 20125134 [42]
Consultores 21July 201245.945.8 [75]
IVADJuly 201254.832.9 [76]
VarianzasJuly 201250.346.0 [77]
DatanálisisJuly 201246.130.8 [78]
HinterlacesJuly 20124730 [79]
GIS XXIAugust 20125630 [80]
VarianzasAugust 201249.347.5 [81]
Hinterlaces16 August 20124830 [82]
Datanálisis20 August 201246.834.2 [83]
Consultores 2124 August 201245.947.7 [84]
IVAD2 September 201250.832.4[ citation needed ]
Hinterlaces6 September 20125032[ citation needed ]
Consultores 2119 September 201246.248.1 [85]
Datanálisis24 September 201247.337.2 [86]
Hinterlaces25 September 20125034 [87]

Conduct

In March 2012, at a visit by Capriles to the San José de Cotiza Caracas neighbourhood, a group of armed members of the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) began firing guns "in an apparent effort to break up the rally". [88] [89] According to news reports, five people were injured, including the son of an opposition member of the National Assembly of Venezuela. Capriles was subsequently taken safely from the scene. Journalists for television channel Globovisión had been covering the rally; its crew, consisting of reporter Sasha Ackerman, cameraman Frank Fernández and assistant Esteban Navas were threatened by the armed men, who confiscated their equipment and footage of the shootings. [88] A Globovisión statement the next day identified the armed men as PSUV supporters, saying "These groups wore red shirts identifying them with a political tendency. More importantly, it was an armed and organized group that fired weapons against people". [89] Venezuela's justice minister, Tarek El Aissami, accused opposition supporters of perpetrating the attacks "to generate this show", while other government officials claimed that Capriles' bodyguards "were the ones to start shooting". [89]

There have also been reports of opposition supporters attacking journalists at opposition campaign events, including reporter Fidel Madroñero for local public station Catatumbo Television at an event in the Zulia state, [90] and VTV reporter Llafrancis Colina at events in Aragua, [90] [91] [92] as well as in the Táchira and Barinas states. [93] Capriles subsequently told journalists "I'm against any type of violence, no matter where it comes from." [94]

PSUV politician Diosdado Cabello declared that Chávez was the only one who could guarantee peace. He added: "those who want fatherland will go with Chávez; those who are traitors will go with the others". He also said that if the opposition wins, it would take the measures of the IMF. [95]

Alleged plots

On 20 March Chávez declared he had intelligence reports about an alleged plot to assassinate Capriles, and said the government was monitoring security for Capriles, with the Director of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service meeting with Capriles' security team. Capriles responded that what the government should do is to guarantee security for all Venezuelans. [96] Chávez said that his government "has nothing to do with" the plot, [96] and according to Reuters , "implied that the plot came from elements in the opposition". Capriles' campaign manager said the announcement was intended to force a change in Capriles' house-by-house campaigning style. [97] In the 2006 presidential election, Chávez similarly declared he had uncovered an assassination plot against his opponent, Manuel Rosales. [32]

Later that same month, Chávez claimed the existence of an opposition plot to disrupt the election with violence and "attack ... the constitution, the people and institutions". Of the "list of actions" he said he was preparing in response, Chávez said he was willing to nationalise banks or companies that supported the opposition should they "[violate] the constitution and the national plan." [98]

In April, Chávez said Capriles was behind a conspiracy plan against his government. Reiterating that he would win with at least 70% of the votes, Chávez said that he had created a civil-military command to neutralize any "destabilization plans" in the event that the opposition did not recognise the results. In reference to the events of April 2002, Chávez said that if necessary, "there would not just be the people on the streets, but the people and soldiers". [99]

Results

CandidatePartyVotes%
Hugo Chávez Great Patriotic Pole 8,191,13255.07
Henrique Capriles Democratic Unity Roundtable 6,591,30444.32
Reina Sequera  [ es ] Workers' Power  [ es ]70,5670.47
Luis Reyes Authentic Renewal Organization 8,2140.06
María Bolívar United Democratic Party for Peace7,3780.05
Orlando Chirinos Party for Socialism and Liberty  [ es ]4,1440.03
Total14,872,739100.00
Valid votes14,872,73998.10
Invalid/blank votes287,5501.90
Total votes15,160,289100.00
Registered voters/turnout18,903,93780.20
Source: CNE

By party

CandidateParty or allianceVotes%
Hugo Chávez Great Patriotic Pole United Socialist Party of Venezuela 6,386,69942.94
Communist Party of Venezuela 489,9413.29
Fatherland for All 220,0031.48
Networks Party 198,1181.33
People's Electoral Movement 185,8151.25
Tupamaro 170,4501.15
For Social Democracy 156,1581.05
New Revolutionary Road 121,7350.82
Venezuelan Popular Unity 89,6220.60
Independents for the National Community 69,9880.47
Revolutionary Workers' Party58,5090.39
Venezuelan Revolutionary Currents 43,6270.29
Other votes4670.00
Total8,191,13255.07
Henrique Capriles Democratic Unity Democratic Unity Roundtable 2,204,96214.83
Justice First 1,839,57312.37
Un Nuevo Tiempo 1,202,7458.09
Popular Will 471,6773.17
Progressive Advance 256,0221.72
Venezuela Vision Unity  [ es ]131,6190.88
National Integration Movement  [ es ]110,8390.75
United for Venezuela  [ es ]64,3800.43
Progressive Movement of Venezuela  [ es ]51,9760.35
Ecological Movement of Venezuela 40,5230.27
Democracy Renewal Unity36,1260.24
Vamos Adelante34,9380.23
Force of Change33,3740.22
People's Vanguard31,2790.21
Liberal Force 22,9650.15
Unidad Nosotros Organizados Elegimos20,4440.14
Procommunity18,7480.13
Movement for a Responsible, Sustainable and Entrepreneurial Venezuela 18,6440.13
Other votes4700.00
Total6,591,30444.32
Reina SequeraUD–PL  [ es ]Democratic Union65,9970.44
Workers' Power  [ es ]4,5530.03
Other votes170.00
Total70,5670.47
Luis Reyes Castillo Authentic Renewal Organization 8,2140.06
María Bolívar United Democratic Party for Peace7,3780.05
Orlando Chirino Party for Socialism and Liberty  [ es ]4,1440.03
Total14,872,739100.00
Valid votes14,872,73998.10
Invalid/blank votes287,5501.90
Total votes15,160,289100.00
Registered voters/turnout18,903,93780.20
Source: CNE

By state

States/districts won by Hugo Chávez
States/districts won by Henrique Capriles
Hugo Chávez
PSUV		Henrique Capriles
MUD		Others
Various		MarginState total
State# %# %# %# %#
Capital District 695,16254.85564,31244.527,8130.62130,85010.331,267,287
Amazonas 39,05653.6133,10745.466770.935,9498.1772,840
Anzoátegui 409,49951.58378,34547.656,0500.7631,1543.92793,894
Apure 155,98866.0978,35833.201,6520.7077,63032.89235,998
Aragua 552,87858.61384,59240.775,7080.61168,28617.84943,178
Barinas 243,61859.23165,13540.152,5260.6178,48319.08411,279
Bolívar 387,46253.73327,77645.465,7660.8059,6868.28721,004
Carabobo 652,02254.49537,07744.887,4190.62114,9459.611,196,518
Cojedes 116,57865.3160,58433.941,3230.7455,99431.37178,485
Delta Amacuro 54,96366.8426,50632.237580.9228,45734.6182,227
Falcón 296,90259.87195,61939.453,3370.67101,28320.43495,858
Guárico 249,03864.31135,45134.972,7400.71113,58729.33387,229
Lara 499,52551.45463,61547.757,6370.7935,9103.70970,777
Mérida 227,27648.45239,65351.092,1260.45−12,377−2.64469,055
Miranda 771,05349.96764,18049.527,9120.516,8730.441,543,145
Monagas 272,48058.35191,17840.943,2380.6981,30217.41466,896
Nueva Esparta 132,45251.02125,79248.451,3490.526,6602.57259,593
Portuguesa 327,96070.89131,10028.333,5390.77196,86042.56462,599
Sucre 280,93360.23182,89839.212,5650.5598,03521.02466,396
Táchira 274,57343.29356,71356.232,9570.47−82,140−12.95634,243
Trujillo 252,05164.10139,19535.401,9400.49112,85628.70393,186
Vargas 127,24661.4778,38237.861,3740.6648,86423.61207,002
Yaracuy 194,41259.99127,44239.322,1790.6766,97020.67324,033
Zulia 971,88953.34843,03246.277,0380.39128,8577.071,821,959
Foreign5,7168.4561,22990.546791.00−55,513−82.0967,624
Inhospitable 40092.16337.6010.2336768.19434
Totals:8,191,13255.076,591,30444.3190,3030.611,599,82810.7614,872,739
Source: CNE

Close states

Red font color denotes states won by President Chávez; blue denotes those won by Governor Capriles.

States where the margin of victory was under 5%:

  1. Miranda 0.45%
  2. Nueva Esparta 2.57%
  3. Mérida 2.64%
  4. Lara 3.70%
  5. Anzoátegui 3.92%

States where margin of victory was more than 5% but less than 10%:

  1. Zulia 7.07%
  2. Amazonas 8.17%
  3. Bolívar 8.28%
  4. Carabobo 9.61%

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Nicolás Maduro Moros is a Venezuelan politician serving as the 53rd president of Venezuela since 2013. Previously, he was the 24th vice president of Venezuela from 2012 to 2013, the minister of foreign affairs from 2006 to 2012, and the 3rd president of the National Assembly of Venezuela from 2005 to 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Venezuelan constitutional referendum</span>

A constitutional referendum was held in Venezuela on 2 December 2007 to amend 69 articles of the 1999 Constitution. President Hugo Chávez and supporters claimed the changes were needed to initiate the transformation into a socialist country; opponents claimed the reforms would undermine democracy in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Venezuelan regional elections</span>

Regional elections were held in Venezuela on 23 November 2008 to choose 22 governors and 2 metropolitan mayors. The candidates were selected for a term beginning in 2008 and ending in 2012, when the next regional elections will be held. The 2008 regional elections were the second during the government of Hugo Chávez Frías and the first since he founded the United Socialist Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Venezuelan parliamentary election</span>

The 2010 parliamentary election in Venezuela took place on 26 September 2010 to elect the 165 deputies to the National Assembly. Venezuelan opposition parties, which had boycotted the previous election thus allowing the governing Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) to gain a two-thirds super majority, participated in the election through the Coalition for Democratic Unity (MUD). In 2007 the Fifth Republic Movement dissolved and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela was formed as the leading government party. Nationally, the popular vote was split equally between PSUV and MUD, but PSUV won a majority of the first-past-the-post seats and consequently retained a substantial majority in the Assembly, although falling short of both two-thirds and three-fifths super majority marks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henri Falcón</span> Venezuelan politician

Henri Falcón Fuentes is a Venezuelan politician, lawyer, and retired Bolivarian Army non-commissioned officer. He served as mayor for two consecutive terms of Barquisimeto, Iribarren Municipality from 2000 to 2008 and as Governor of Lara from 2008 until 2017. He was a candidate in the 2018 Venezuelan presidential election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Unity Roundtable</span> Political coalition of Venezuelan opposition parties

The Democratic Unity Roundtable was a catch-all electoral coalition of Venezuelan political parties formed in January 2008 to unify the opposition to President Hugo Chávez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela in the 2010 Venezuelan parliamentary election. A previous opposition umbrella group, the Coordinadora Democrática, had collapsed after the failure of the 2004 Venezuelan recall referendum.

La Hojilla is a Venezuelan television programme. It is transmitted daily on weekdays at 11pm on Venezolana de Televisión. It is hosted by Mario Silva and Jorge Amorín. It is also broadcast on Radio Nacional de Venezuela.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Venezuelan presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 14 April 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chávez on 5 March 2013. Nicolás Maduro—who had assumed the role of acting president since Chávez's death—was declared winner with a narrow victory over his opponent Henrique Capriles, the Governor of Miranda. Capriles had run in the previous election less than a year before, losing to Chávez by an 11-point margin. This time the margin of victory was much smaller, and thus became the closest presidential election of the country since the 1968 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 Venezuelan parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2015 to elect the 164 deputies and three indigenous representatives of the National Assembly. They were the fourth parliamentary elections to take place after the 1999 constitution, which abolished the bicameral system in favour of a unicameral parliament, and the first to take place after the death of President Hugo Chávez. Despite predictions from the opposition of a possible last-minute cancellation, the elections took place as scheduled, with the majority of polls showing the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) holding a wide lead over the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) and its wider alliance, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Venezuelan presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 20 May 2018, with incumbent Nicolás Maduro being declared re-elected for a second six-year term. The original electoral date was scheduled for December 2018 but was subsequently pulled ahead to 22 April before being pushed back to 20 May. Some analysts described the poll as a sham election, as many prominent opposition parties had been barred from participating in it. The elections had the lowest voter turnout in Venezuela's democratic era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Democratic Unity Roundtable presidential primary</span>

The primary elections of the Unity Roundtable were held on February 12, 2012, and determined the presidential candidate of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) for the 2012 Venezuelan presidential election, which were held on October 7, As well as their candidates in the coming regional and municipal elections, to be held in December 2012 and December 2013 respectively. These were the first open presidential primaries in the history of Venezuela, and the largest of its kind and in participation in world history.

Parliamentary elections were held in Venezuela on 6 December 2020. Aside from the 167 deputies of the National Assembly who are eligible to be re-elected, the new National Electoral Council president announced that the assembly would increase by 110 seats, for a total of 277 deputies to be elected.

References

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  2. ↑ El Mundo: Estos son los ocho candidatos para las presidenciales del 7 de octubre Archived 17 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine . Laclase.info (15 June 2012).
  3. ↑ "Venezuela.- Capriles desea "larga vida" a Chávez en medio de la polémica por la salud del presidente". Expansion.com.
  4. ↑ "Divulgación Elecciones Presidenciales - 07 de Octubre de 2012". 4.cne.gob.ve. Archived from the original on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  5. ↑ "Chávez Wins a Third Term in Venezuela Amid Historically High Turnout". NYT. 7 October 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  6. ↑ "Capriles a Chávez: Espero que lea con grandeza la expresión del pueblo". El Universal. 7 October 2012. Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "Venezuela's presidential election, 2012". Smartmatic.com.
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  10. ↑ "Chavez foe leads massive march in Venezuela". Fox News.
  11. ↑ "CARACAS: Venezuela opposition floods streets in support of presidential candidate" Archived 7 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine . Miami Herald.
  12. ↑ "Capriles Radonski quiere ser 'el Presidente de los rojos'" Archived 15 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine . El Tiempo (1 June 1999).
  13. ↑ "Hugo Chávez se postulará para las Presidenciales del 2012". Noticias 24 (in Spanish). 23 November 2010. Archived from the original on 30 January 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  14. ↑ "Chavez to run in 2012 poll, says Venezuela minister". BBC. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
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  16. ↑ "De oposicion a unidad". Tal Cual (in Spanish). 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
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  29. ↑ "Venezuela's presidential campaign: And then there were five", The Economist, 26 January 2012
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  36. ↑ (in Spanish) Últimas Noticias , 6 September 2012, UNT: Ojeda "se puso al margen" de este partido Archived 1 February 2016 at the Wayback Machine
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  41. ↑ "Rafael Poleo: Las encuestas muestran a un Capriles flojo con una estrategia equivocada". NoticieroDigital (in Spanish). 21 May 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2012. ignora que en Venezuela el voto es emocional (…) y que la gente vota por la esperanza". ... "el chavismo llegó al corazón del pueblo que AD y Copei, sifrinizados, habían dejado vacío" ... "Por este camino puedo desde ya decirles los resultados.
  42. 1 2 Reuters , 18 June 2012, Venezuela's Chavez rejects poll debate, irking rival
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  92. ↑ (in Spanish)Noticias24, 20 March 2012, AN aprueba propuesta de solicitar a la FGR una investigación "exhaustiva" sobre el caso de Richard Mardo Archived 22 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
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