Chavez Wins Electoral Challenge

Venezuela's Castro-wannabe leader, Hugo Chavez, scored a victory in local elections by holding onto most of the governorships in the country. At the same time, the opposition did make some gains. What is most pleasing about the situation, to the extent there is anything good to say, is that the election appeared to have been fair and free. Mr. Chavez doesn't quite have the Castro part down pat just yet.

Venezuela has 22 states, and until the recent election, Mr. Chavez and his allies held 21 of them. They held onto 17, which Mr. Chavez took as a sign that the people were saying, “Chavez, keep on the same path.” He argued that the results were an endorsement of his "socialist project" in Venezuela.

Opposition leader Manuel Rosales took a different view of the results saying, "What's important is that the map of Venezuela has started to change.” His side carried the states of Miranda and Zulia, the biggest in terms of electorate, sort of like winning California and New York in the US. This could signal a big change in the next parliamentary elections. The BBC reports, “The outcomes in two states have not yet been published, but the head of the electoral commission was quoted as saying they had been narrowly won by the opposition."

The electoral commission, which is deemed by most to be adequately independent of the government to be a legitimate source, stated that the conduct of the voters was “exemplary.” Turnout was about 65%, which for local elections just about anywhere is excellent.

That is a significant safeguard against Mr. Chavez's ambitions. When he lost a referendum a while back, he accepted the outcome. He has yet to fix an election, as far as anyone can tell, and he hasn't used the military against the opposition. So long as this persists, and so long as the 17 million strong electorate stays engaged, Venezuela isn't going to turn into another Cuba despite what Mr. Chavez may want.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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