Media still parrots Capriles, and the question of where to now for the opposition
After the results were announced just after 10pm last night, Henrique Capriles, who had basically abandoned his job as Miranda governor and had been campaigning for the opposition,tweeted
the following; 2014 is looking like a very difficult year for Venezuela, and well be there with you all to look for ways out of the economic chaos. He also tweeted repeatedly, No one is the owner [head] of Venezuela, the country needs unity, dialogue...we have a divided Venezuela.
Private English and Spanish media parroted his analysis, withAP
headlining Split results in Venezuela mayoral elections and referring to the election results as a political stalemate. Likewise, theWall Street Journal
headlined, Venezuelan Vote Reflects Deep Divide and BBC World in Spanish, Venezuela is still divided.
Nevertheless, most mainstream international and Venezuelan media was forced to recognise that the PSUV won yesterdays elections, and fairly. TheGuardian and Reuters
headlined Venezuelas Nicolas Maduro cements power with victory in elections and noted, President Nicolás Maduro's party won the most votes in Venezuela's local elections on Sunday, disappointing the opposition and helping his quest to preserve the late Hugo Chavez's socialist legacy.
So that leaves us wondering what the opposition will do now. They tried a coup in 2002, and since around 2005 they have tried a more indirect, psychological war approach, whilst pretending to accept some of the revolutions main facets and demonising it at the same time, and lost again and again, with the exception of the 2007 constitutional referendum. I repeat- they have lost 18 out of 19 elections in the last 14 years. The death of Chavez, and their economic attacks this year have been the best chance theyve had, yet even under those conditions around 5 million Chavistas have stayed strong. With their electoral fraud angle looking pathetic, what will they do now? Will they wait and maintain their attacks, until attempting a recall in 2016, which they may not win?
A significant victory in difficult circumstances
I remember the April presidential elections, walking past the Libertador high school in Merida at night after booths had closed. There were two large military tanks parked outside it. Perhaps 200 people from both sides had gathered there and were exchanging chant attacks. It was tense. The opposition was alleging problems in the vote counting in the booth. This time, I went back there, and children were playing out the front of the booth on bikes and roller skates. The booth witnesses from both camps were waiting to go in, but it was calm, they joked together, and when the booth closed, they clapped. The oppositions strategy and discourse of violence, hate, fear, and tension, had an impact in April, but despite maintaining it through to these elections, it has been unsustainable in the long term.
Furthermore internationally, these elections largely nullify their claims of fraud and an unreliable electoral system. Praise for Venezuelas system is high and ongoing, and the participation rate this time was 59%, despite the elections being local only, being held close to Christmas and school holidays, and despite being the fourth in 14 months, speaks to the peoples faith in the system. According to Bipartisan Research Centre, a smaller percentage of eligible voters turned out to the USs 2012 presidential elections.
More importantly, this is an electoral victory after exactly 1 year without Chavez at the helm, and after almost a year of higher inflation, some scarcity, ongoing media attacks and a psychological war, as well as an almost nationwide blackout last week. The 5 million who voted for PSUV candidates are politically consistent, strong, and prove that this is a socialist project, not something that can be reduced to the charisma of Chavez, as the media tried to do.
