You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (October 2023)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
| |||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
|
The 2023 Unitary Platform presidential primaries were primary elections held on 22 October 2023, to choose the opposition candidate of the Unitary Platform coalition in the elections of the following year for the presidency of Venezuela. The first official announcement of the primaries was made on 16 May 2022 by the coalition, setting 2023 as the year in which such elections would be held. They were held in Venezuela, as well as in 29 countries and 77 cities abroad. [1]
The primaries were independently organized by the National Primary Commission, without the assistance of the National Electoral Council and with the use of manual voting. [2] Venezuelan NGOs and political parties have denounced the use of disinformation, death threats, and physical attacks by Chavismo supporters and by the National Liberation Army (ELN), a far-left Colombian guerrilla group, against opposition candidates.
On 3 June 2023 a group of women identified with the ruling party insulted and physically assaulted pre-candidate Henrique Capriles during a visit to Santa Inés, Carabobo state, in an attempt to disrupt his campaign. [3] [4]
On 30 June 2023, the Comptroller General announced that pre-candidate and former National Assembly member María Corina Machado was disqualified from holding public office for 15 years, linking her to alleged crimes of Juan Guaidó, as well as supporting international sanctions against the country. She can still participate in the opposition primaries because they are not regulated by Maduro's government. [5] [6] [7] Capriles has the same sentence and cannot hold office until 2032. [5] Analysts determined that the accusation of having participated in the interim was incoherent, taking into account that María Corina was not a member of the 2015 opposition National Assembly (being prevented by a disqualification from the Comptroller's Office), in addition to never having been appointed in any position in Guaidó's interim government. [8] The disqualification has been considered illegal and unconstitutional by several jurists, including constitutional lawyer Allan Brewer Carías . The Latin American and Caribbean Network for Democracy cited the precedent of the Petro Urrego v. Colombia sentence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2020, which determined that "it is a serious violation of political human rights if an administrative authority, and not a judge through due judicial process, politically disqualifies a citizen". [9]
On 10 July 2023, reported militants of the Communist Party of Venezuela filed a writ of amparo to the Supreme Tribunal of Justice to appoint an ad hoc board considering to the party, saying that it is "kidnapped" by its general secretary Óscar Figuera. The action followed the patten of the Democratic Action, Copei and Tupamaro parties, where new presidencies were imposed judicially, co-opting the name and symbols of the parties. Communist movements in Latin America expressed their support for the party, as well as the Communist Workers' Platform USA and the American Council of Bolsheviks, who said in a joint statement "the [ United Socialist Party of Venezuela] (PSUV), as a servant of the bourgeoisie, can never fulfill their false promise of socialism". [10] [11]
The same day, Venezuelan fact checking outlet Cazadores de Fake News denounced a discredit operation against María Corina Machado. The operation was promoted by a disinformation network that originally spread disinformation Leopoldo López, Juan Guaidó and other opposition politicians, and now focused in attacking María Corina. [12]
On 12 July, eight out of the thirteen opposition candidates held a debate in the Universidad Católica Andrés Bello. It was the first presidential debate in Venezuela in 11 years, since 2012. The participants were María Corina Machado for Vente Venezuela, Carlos Prósperi for Democratic Action, Freddy Superlano for Popular Will, transgender candidate Tamara Adrián for Unidos por la Dignidad, Delsa Solórzano for Encuentro Ciudadano, Andrés Velásquez for La Causa R, César Pérez Vivas for Concertación Ciudadana and Andrés Caleca for Movimiento por Venezuela. [13] [14] [15]
On 15 July, pro-government militants tried to attack María Corina during a campaign act in Vargas state. The following day, on 16 July, prevented a campaign rally in Petare, in the east of Caracas. [16] [17]
On 27 July, the Popular Will denounced that Freddy Superlano, the party's pre-candidate, had his passport taken away by Venezuelan authorities at the Atanasio Girardot international bridge on the border with Colombia. [18]
On 22 July, Vente Venezuela denounced death threats to María Corina by the National Liberation Army (ELN), a far-left Colombian guerrilla group, after her campaign headquarters in La Fría, Táchira state, was painted overnight with messages such as "death to María Corina" and "primaries without María Corina", signed by the ELN. Four days later, the group denied being the authors of those threats. [19] [20]
On 12 August, pre-candidate Delsa Solórzano denounced death threats involving the ELN, including messages that reached her through social networks such as "the collective forces of the ELN are going to kill you". The Public Ministry announced that it would investigate these threats. [21]
On 14 August, the Unitary Platform issued a communiqué rejecting statements by government authorities linking the opposition primaries to political violence. [22]
On 15 August, supporters of Chavism attacked followers of Henrique Capriles in a rally in Apure state. According to his party, Justice First, this was the seventh aggression against the pre-candidate or his followers since 29 May. [23]
On 12 October, Fuerza Vecinal requested the suspension of the primaries, arguing that "There were not conditions". [24] [25] On 21 October, the day before the primaries, the regulatory entity CONATEL prohibited several media from covering the elections, for which reason the main radio circuits in Venezuela had to suspend operations, as well as television channels. The fact was denounced by the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP). [26] [27]
In September 2023, a Frequency 58 poll concluded that voters feared that the government would prevent the primary elections. [28]
According to polls conducted by Delphos in October 2023, the primaries raised the motivation of Venezuelans, with 67% of the population supporting the idea of voting in the primaries, compared to 46% in November 2022. [29]
In the early morning of 22 October, Acción Democrática candidate, Carlos Prosperi, insulted journalist Eugenio Martínez, calling him "mythomaniac", after Martínez questioned accusations about the process of appointment of board members. [30]
The president of the National Primary Commission (CP), Jesus Maria Casal, offered the first balance of the primaries around 9:15 a.m., stating that by that time more than 70% of the polling stations had been installed and that by then no incidents had been registered. [31]
In the morning, in the El Guarataro neighborhood of western Caracas, colectivos prevented the installation of the voting center in the area. The non-governmental organization Voto Joven denounced that the groups stole material from a voting table and that violence with a firearm was registered. [32] Neighbors of the neighborhood installed the voting center after the intimidation. [33] In Plaza La Estrella, in Caracas, the beginning of voting was postponed due to the intentional burning of garbage in the center of the voting point. [34] [35] Nuns of the Patronato San José de Tarbes denounced that voters who tried to participate were threatened by colectivos, and that the center had to be moved to another location. [36] Also in the morning, armed civilians entered the voting point La Cañada, in San Juan parish, pointed at the coordinator of the voting center and took away a table during the beginning of the process, firing several shots. [37]
In Santa Rosalía parish, motorcyclists threw a tear gas cannister in the vicinity of the voting center. The point remained open and voters continued with the process. [38] [39] In the afternoon, two men fired shots into the air at the voting point in Las Acacias, Caracas. Voters temporarily dispersed before returning to the polling place again. [37]
The vice-president of the Regional Board of Monagas state, Dexcy Moya, denounced that collectives shouted expletives and threats in several voting centers in Maturin. [40]
From his polling station, Prosperi criticized again the organization of the primary elections, stating that in some polling stations there was no distribution of electoral material. Prosperi was booed by the voters present. [41] [42] A video was later leaked on social networks where Prosperi disowned in advance the results of the primaries, before they were announced. [43] [44] His party Acción Democrática rejected the statements, saying that "it does not represent the position of the party" and to be "firm with unity". [45]
In Catia, Caracas, Chavistas played loud pro-government music during the process. Voters continued the process normally. [34]
During the primaries there was a high turnout in traditionally pro-government areas of Carabobo state. [46] The same happened in low income areas of Caracas, including Antímano, La Vega, El Valle and San Martín; in the case of the latter, even in spite of threats from colectivos. María Corina Machado voted in the elections with two of her sons. Henrique Capriles, Manuel Rosales and journalist Roland Carreño, recently released from prison, also voted. At his polling place, Jesús María Casal was greeted with the slogan "sí se puede" (yes we can). [34] María Corina would later declare that "We have exceeded the expectations of the primaries". [47]
The National Primary Commission announced that the transmission of primary results would be delayed due to a cyber-attack on the Commission's servers. [48] On Monday, 23 October, the third electoral bulletin of the National Primary Commission is delivered, where was is announced that with 92.65% counted, María Corina Machado maintains more than 90% of the votes. Therefore, she will be the candidate for the Unitary Platform for the 2024 Venezuelan presidential elections.
Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 3 December 2006 to elect a president for a six-year term to begin on 10 January 2007. The contest was primarily between incumbent President Hugo Chávez, and Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales of the opposition party A New Era.
María Corina Machado Parisca is a Venezuelan opposition politician who served as an elected member of the National Assembly of Venezuela from 2011 to 2014. Machado was the founder and former leader of the Venezuelan volunteer civil organization Súmate, alongside Alejandro Plaz. In 2018, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.
Henrique Capriles Radonski is a Venezuelan politician and lawyer, who served as the 36th Governor of Miranda from 2008 to 2017.
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.
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.
Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 7 October 2012 to choose a president for a six-year term beginning in January 2013.
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.
Colectivos are far-left Venezuelan armed paramilitary groups that support the Bolivarian government, the Great Patriotic Pole (GPP) political alliance and Venezuela's ruling party, and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). Colectivo has become an umbrella term for irregular armed groups that operate in poverty-stricken areas.
The 2014 Venezuelan protests began in February 2014 when hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested due to high levels of criminal violence, inflation, and chronic scarcity of basic goods because of policies created the Venezuelan government. The protests have lasted for several months and events are listed below according to the month they had happened.
Vente Venezuela is a classical liberal political party in Venezuela headquartered in the city of Caracas. It has parliamentary representation in the National Assembly. Its registration as a political party has not been granted by the National Electoral Council.
In 2014, a series of protests, political demonstrations, and civil insurrection began in Venezuela due to the country's high levels of urban violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of basic goods attributed to economic policies such as strict price controls. Mass protesting began in earnest in February following the attempted rape of a student on a university campus in San Cristóbal. Subsequent arrests and killings of student protesters spurred their expansion to neighboring cities and the involvement of opposition leaders. The year's early months were characterized by large demonstrations and violent clashes between protesters and government forces that resulted in nearly 4,000 arrests and 43 deaths, including both supporters and opponents of the government.
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.
Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Venezuela in 28 July 2024 to choose a president for a six-year term beginning on 10 January 2025. Leading candidates of the Venezuelan opposition have been disqualified from participating in the election during its campaign or in previous elections. In June 2023, the leading candidate María Corina Machado was barred from participating by the Venezuelan government for alleged political crimes. This move has been regarded by the opposition as violation of political human rights and has been condemned by international bodies like the Organization of American States, the European Union, and Human Rights Watch, as well as countries such as Canada, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay, the United Kingdom, the United States and Uruguay.
Juan Pablo Isidoro Guanipa Villalobos is a Venezuelan lawyer and politician who currently serves as deputy and First Vice President of the National Assembly, leader of the Justice First political party and former governor of Zulia. He was a presidential candidate in the 2018 elections until boycott. Guanipa is the regional coordinator of the Justice First party in Zulia and chairs the Maracaibo Posible foundation.
Event in the year 2024 in Venezuela
A consultative referendum was initiated by the government of Nicolás Maduro regarding Venezuela's claim over the Guayana Esequiba, whose territory is disputed with, and controlled by, neighboring Guyana. The referendum took place on 3 December 2023 in Venezuela. The population of the territory in question was not consulted and did not vote as voting only took place within Venezuela.
Venezuelan opposition to the Chavista governments of former President Hugo Chávez and current President Nicolás Maduro, commonly referred to as the Venezuelan opposition, or sometimes, anti-Chavismo, is a political umbrella term used to describe political, social and religious movements that have opposed Chavismo, and the associated Bolivarian Revolution political process since 2 February 1999.
A brawl in the National Assembly of Venezuela took place on 30 April 2013 at the Federal Legislative Palace, in Caracas, after opposition deputies who did not recognize the results of the 2013 presidential elections and the ruling party's candidate Nicolás Maduro as president were denied the right to speak for the second consecutive ordinary session. The brawl resulted in at least 11 deputies injured.
Corina Yoris Villasana is a Venezuelan philosopher, professor and politician, who was the Unitary Platform candidate in the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, as the replacement for María Corina Machado, who was politically disqualified. Yoris was unable to register as a candidate and was temporarily replaced by Edmundo González Urrutia.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)