AQ Slideshow: Venezuelans Cast Their Vote
In the early morning of April 14, Venezuelan voters went to the polls to decide whether Nicolás Maduro or Henrique Capriles Radonski would become the country’s next president. Voter participation started slowly in several neighborhoods in eastern Caracas, but eventually, more than 78 percent of Venezuela’s registered voters cast their ballots. With 99 percent of … Read more
Electoral Irregularities under Chavismo: A Tally
This is a draft document and part of an ongoing project on electoral irregularities in Venezuela. Please help improve this document by reporting any errors and omissions to jcorrales@amherst.edu. Just days ahead of the first post-Chávez election since 1998, Venezuela’s opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles, has made electoral irregularities a major issue in his campaign. Claiming … Read more
Venezuela: Timidity and Sub-Standard Election Observation
Last week, the Human Rights Foundation called on the Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General, José Miguel Insulza, to urge the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela to invite an OAS electoral observation mission to monitor the upcoming April 14 presidential elections. An OAS mission—along the lines of what it used to field in … Read more
Did Chávez Help the Poor?
In a recent opinion piece, Venezuelan-American author Eva Golinger proclaimed the late Hugo Chávez was “a maker of dreams.” Chávez, she says, dreamt of eradicating poverty, and made those dreams come true. Much of what has been written—including by people critical of his legacy—repeats the same conclusion: Chávez improved the lives of the poor. Sadly, … Read more
AQ Slideshow: Venezuelans Wait Hours to View Chávez
Click here to view an expanded version of the slideshow. Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’ body is being moved today from the Military Academy of Caracas to the city’s military museum, marking the end of a nine-day open casket service that has drawn thousands of the late president’s followers to the capital city. The lines of … Read more
AQ Slideshow: Venezuelans Pay Their Respects to Hugo Chávez
Click here to view an expanded version of the slideshow. Throughout the day on Wednesday, enormous crowds took to the streets of Caracas to join the president’s procession from the hospital in which he died to the military academy. The impressive procession traversed eight kilometers of the capital city and lasted seven hours, flooding major … Read more
The Economic Reality Facing Nicolás Maduro
Hugo Chávez engineered an electoral budget boom on steroids to win the 2012 presidential election. His economic strategy resulted in a significant appreciation of the real exchange rate, an increase in imports to a historical peak, and a considerable increase in public wages. Facing a strong contender in Henrique Capriles—and the limits to his campaign … Read more
Venezuela’s Regional Elections and the Implications for the Opposition
While President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela remains in Cuba recovering from his fourth cancer surgery on the island, millions of his supporters delivered a solid political victory for his party in the country’s regional elections on December 16. Of the 23 governorships that exist in Venezuela, the Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (United Socialist Party—PSUV) … Read more
Maduro is No Chávez, For Now
After much speculation President Hugo Chávez announced on December 8 that his cancer was back (for the second time in a year), and that he now had a person in mind to succeed him—Nicolás Maduro, the minister of foreign affairs who was elevated to vice president in October 2012. Designating Maduro as the official successor … Read more
The Challenges Ahead for Hugo Chávez
After Hugo Chávez convincingly won re-election on Sunday, the margin of victory—over 1.5 million votes, totaling over 10 percentage points—has stunned members of Venezuela’s opposition, leaving them searching for answers. Some pointed to the Consejo Nacional Electoral (National Electoral Council—CNE), which is controlled by chavistas and turned a blind eye to government abuses. Others pointed … Read more
[i]AQ[/i] Slideshow (UPDATED): Election Photos from [i]Colegio Eugenia Ravasco[/i] in Caracas
Exclusive photos taken this morning of the polling station at Colegio Eugenia Ravasco located on Avenida Principal de los Chorros in Caracas. Additional photos taken this afternoon at the voting centers located at the Colegio Santa Gema and Instituto Universitario Tecnológico Americo Vespucio, both in Caracas. All pictures taken October 7 by Romina Hendlin.
[i]AQ[/i] Slideshow (UPDATED): Election Photos from [i]Unidad Educativa Santo Tomas de Aquino[/i] in Caracas
Exclusive photos taken at around 11:00 am (local) at the electoral center at Unidad Educativa Santo Tomas de Aquino located in Campo Alegre on the east side of Caracas. The voting is rather calm and very orderly. The majority of the people who signed up at this center have voted already with many beginning to … Read more
Electoral Legitimacy and Security Ahead of Venezuela’s Presidential Election
Late last week, Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski released a video with his final appeal to voters. Looking straight at the camera, the former governor of Miranda state addressed the fears that prevent some Venezuelans from supporting him fully: being fired from government jobs; being passed over for a social program; or being banned … Read more
State-Owned Media and the Public Interest
Regimes that seek to limit civilian and political opposition have found a new tool in controlling their messaging: state-owned media. This comes despite the fact that state media—like many means of communication—should serve the interests of all citizens and provide information free of commercial, state or political influence. According to a 2009 report by the … Read more
Capriles Radonski and His Vision for Venezuela
After years of being rudderless, Venezuela’s opposition to Hugo Chávez finally has a leader. Miranda Governor Henrique Capriles Radonski soundly defeated four other candidates on February 12 to become the opposition’s sole presidential candidate for October’s presidential election. That he did so without providing details on his vision makes his victory all the more remarkable. … Read more
