Looking at the results of chavismo’s primary for the 16-D regional elections, one thing stands out: all the names selected for the governors’ races are from Chávez’s own PSUV party.
No other member of the Gran Polo Patriotico (GPP) coalition of political parties is present in the final list of candidates, even though they proposed at least 40 different names to Chávez himself.
He passed over all of them.
Well, one of those parties has decided to draw the line: the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), one of the oldest active parties in the country and a faithful (if often maligned) ally of the comandante presidente. The PCV card got almost half million votes in the October 7th presidential election, more than Voluntad Popular, proving the electoral heft of the “red rooster”.
Looks like that didn’t make a difference in the political front. Therefore, they decided to run on their own in four states: Amazonas, Bolívar, Mérida and Portuguesa. However, they pledged support for the other 19 PSUV-imposed candidates, including in some cases where they had serious concerns, like the selection of total batequebrao Francisco Ameliach in Carabobo.
Not everybody inside the GPP agrees with PCV’s position. Carmelo González, national secretary of UPV (Lina Ron’s party and another ally of Chavismo, more hardcore than the rest of the bunch) has attacked the communists for breaking internal disclipline and “playing the game of the right”.
The case of Mérida is the most eye-catching, as the PCV and other Chavista-related parties have turned their backs on official candidate Alexis Ramírez (a local member of the National Assembly) and given their support instead to former governor Florencio Porras.
The 16-D elections will be a major test for the GPP, just like it will be for the MUD.
Caracas Chronicles 
Has not gone over well with many of the grassroots and rank and file militants who have saved the revolution 4 times now also…
Cort
Calling for Democratisation in the PSUV
Oct 17th 2012, by Lucha de Clases ( http://www.luchadeclases.org.ve/ ) http://venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/7366
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Some day, you will realize that “Democratization” and “PSUV” are mutually exclusive and oxymoronic.
Hay un Camino for Cort!
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Hi Cort
The PSUV militants trying to introduce change have a mayor roadblock call camarada Chavez. I wish them the best of luck and success in their quest. A democracy within would be a blessing.
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You can’t get blood out of a stone
Many will try none the less, call it an unwillingness to face the consequences of ones actions and choices.
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OT: Ha! I made that image of the PCV flag ages ago… And it still floats around:
http://flagspot.net/flags/ve%7D.html#pcv
(Like many other things I made for the FOTW community, it goes uncredited everywhere… Most FARC flags uses in newscasts and blogs, for instance).
Oh, and Cort is not trolling. Kudos… And I doubt he plays “the game of the right”.
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omg, MEGANERD con doble tirabuzón and a cherry on top!!!
(Like I’m one to talk, right?)
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My name is Guillermo. I’m a meganerd, and I read Caracas Chronicles.
(It feels good to say it out loud… At least I feel as less of a persona non grata around here)…
BTW, when are you going to tackle down the people saying there was a fraud? It would only be consistent with the slight shift in editorial line: hard line on mistakes, no BS on moronic and self-pleasing excuses (like, as I said, “fraaaaud!”).
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Heh, well, I posted that rant by OSGuido, which I thought was an appropriate response. Did you catch it? http://caracaschronicles.com/2012/10/09/osguido-raises-snark-to-an-art-form/
In general, the fraud claims are not serious. It doesn’t seem wise to dignify unserious claims with a serious reply.
For what it’s worth, my offer of a clean, crisp, new US$100 bill for the first person who shows me evidence of a serious numerical discrepancy between the chorizos (machine tallys), the CNE website’s results and the hot audit remains.
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I got it… I have not been as active on the fray because the election left me with a hug backload of work.
I worry, however, that the fraud-callers are invited into some “serious” circles. Scientifically-minded circles, I may add.
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The last complaint I heard was not about fraud, but about a disheartening performance of the upper ranks during the final hours of the election: http://tururutururu.com/?p=4568
Yes, some people (the hysterical ones) are asking for a swift execution of the capitostes, but most of the people are just looking for some kind of explanation to what happened. Something besides the obvious “Chavez won” or “It was an unfair fight” is necessary. Trying to pull a tabula rasa because of the up-coming elections is not helping.
People looking for an answer are falling for the old “let’s blame the bloodsuckers and panhandlers that give away their votes to Chavez for a couple of bucks” that worsens the divide among Venezuelans.
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At this point who cares! The divide is the divide and this is war. It’s too late for these calls for appeasement. This bunch of shit they say in the article you mention: AD and COPEI managed the country as a business and Venezuela summoned into the most savage capitalism for God’s sake. Whoever wrote that should be shot on the spot. What about ISI in the 60s and 70s and State capitalism? Of course, I study and the rest speak bullocks. What it happened to this country was “Mala Leche” ladies and gentlemen. When CAP started the indebtedness in his first government it made all the economic sense to do so; the Yom Kippur war had poured billions of dollars into the hands of economies that could not absorb them; they ended up in the financial system which had to pay interest rates. All the industrialization in Guayana comes from that indebtedness. CAP realized it was expensive, very expensive, to develop Guayana aguas abajo. But it made sense all the way through! The only mistake was not to call private capital into it. It was not common during that time though; not in Latin America. Then Volcker and his shock in the Fed with Reagan, who on earth could prevent or foresee that? F**k off really. Then Luis Herrera says he received a “pais hipotecado” but he himself recognized the private debt at 4,30 $, and not happy he created RECADI thinking he was going to stop capital flights. But then the big sucker is CAP! bloody hell. These guys that are now in power were conspiring by more than 10 years against legitimate governments, check the numbers with which Lusinchi, considered a tragedy, won. Ah, but everyone clapped when Chavez and co stormed with tanks Miraflores. Now we have to be democraticos? No señor, we have to do the same. Send the rich kids to the Militar Academy, say we are appeased but we are not. And kill during the night Chavistas leaders.
I´ve said
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If you want mayhem and reciprocal assassinations then you are proposing the way to go about it. Quico and Juan – if you were responsible you would at least edit out the last sentence from this screwball.
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For once, I agree with you, Arturo. Though perhaps the comments by Romero should stand as a testament to the fact that there are screwballs in both political camps. Need reminders? Fosforito, anyone? Or earlier, Lina Ron?
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Why? This type of extreme rhetoric is heard on both side of the spectrum, “editing” will not make it less real. Why emulate the proverbial ostrich ? Counter it with arguments.
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Yes comeflores.
Not even one mention to the rest of the comment. Just to the fact I said kill chavistas. You should remember that your beloved Colombia did it that way, and now it’s an “example” for democrats. Screwball or not put in doubt or at least argue against any of the facts I mentioned.
You’ll be fighting and analysing elections the rest of your democratic live. The guy is about to be second in the league of cleptocrats in Venezuela, while you eat ganja cakes
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Great work!
I like that site a lot, very useful information. I have been going there for years. Congratulations.
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I didn’t know you were involved with FOTW. Awesome. I love flags and geography in general, so this makes me some kind of meganerd too. And I’m happy for that.
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Gustavo: I was up until 2006 (although I receive their posts daily…) … Life caught up with me. But the great FOTW contributor from Venezuela was the late Raul Orta Pardo: he worked in the heraldry department of our Air Force. And he was a staunch democrat, BTW.
He had the drive to keep us together there… There is a Venezuelan Association of Symbology, but I’ve lost touch.
As an aside: I drew the PCV logo using Paint Shop Pro. I’ve never been able to master vectorization programs like Adobe Illustrator.
I registeres a flurry of new flags during this years’ campaign, but I haven’t worked on that… Redes, Alianza Progresista, VP…
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I have made my bit for FotW, mostly with flags from fiction. It’s always nice to see another Venezuelan meganerd (who reads Caracas Chronicles).
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Of course all the candidates you mention are from the PSUV since they were chosen by the PSUV leadership. (Now you mwill say in your ignornce “but that’s Chávez”. Think that if you want since you obviously know nothing about the selection process if that is what you think) The PSUV could hardly choose a candidate from PPT Maneiro now could it? It is up to the other parties to put up their canididates if they want to and the PCV is doing this.
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What you are saying then is that the GPP should not exist for these elections? What of those 40 candidates proposed to Chavez and passed?
Could you describe to us the selection process as it is quite a mystery.
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