Maduro declared winner in Venezuela's election

[sandensea]

Source: ABC News

Venezuela's election officials say socialist leader Nicolás Maduro has won a second six-year term as president of the oil-rich South American country, while his main rivals are disputing the legitimacy of the vote and calling for a new election.

The National Election Council announced that with almost 93% of polling stations reporting, Maduro won nearly 68% of the votes in Sunday's election, beating his nearest challenger Henri Falcón by almost 40 points.

The opposition throughout the day argued that a Maduro victory would lack legitimacy because many voters stayed home, heeding the call to boycott an election seen as rigged. Government critics also say other voters were pressured into voting for Maduro.

Electoral authorities say turnout is projected to reach 48%.

The United States and many governments around the world rejected the election even before ballots were cast as several key rivals of Maduro were barred from running.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-pope-francis-prays-venezuelans-55305346

[oneshooter]

1. Did anybody expect any other outcome.

[Archae]

4. I sure didn't.

But oh yes, people like former dictator Stroessner get condemned up the wazoo, with good reason.

But since Maduro is "leftist," he's left off the hook.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

29. Sanctions from US and EU, near worldwide condemnation, excoriation wall to wall on DU. But since ...

... Maduro is "leftist," he's left off the hook??

Where?

Your screed reads like its a tad unhinged.

[Jedi Guy]

37. I think that was a reference to Maduro's defenders on DU.

It was a little bit hyperbolic, since on this thread you can see lots of criticism of Maduro and his regime. There for a while, though, any thread about Venezuela played host to a group who'd defend him rabidly and insist that CIA was the sole source of the country's woes.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

39. I am aware of that period here.

Problem is (for me) is that the hyperbole used in the verbal war against Chavez was so over the top, it renders much of the complaints about Maduro as more-of-the-same anti Ven BS.

I'm sure you remember the DICTATOR FOR LIFE!!11 screeds back then (during Vens constitutional rewrite vote).
Turned out to be all BS.
Anti Maduro-ists say almost exactly the same shit. Anyone who attempts rational discussion (with a historical perspective) is branded a Chavista, or a Leninist/Marxist. Sounds like RWers in their screeds against Obama. Not really an effective approach, imo.

[EX500rider]

41. "I'm sure you remember the DICTATOR FOR LIFE!"

When you rig elections and jail the opposition you are "the DICTATOR FOR LIFE!"

Wasn't Chavez in office from 1999 till he died in 2013? The 1st elections were clean but as he got more unpopular they started the arrests and the rigging.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

42. Re elected with a 60% win.

Chavez Third Term

In the presidential election of December 2006, which saw a 74% voter turnout, Chávez was once more elected, this time with 63% of the vote, beating his closest challenger Manuel Rosales, who conceded his loss.[226] The election was certified as being free and legitimate by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Carter Center.[229][230][231] After this victory, Chávez promised an "expansion of the revolution."[232]

Your agenda is clear.

[EX500rider]

44. "Your agenda is clear." Yours is even clearer.

In 2008, Human Rights Watch released a report reviewing Chávez's human rights record over his first decade in power.[369] The report praises Chávez's 1999 amendments to the constitution which significantly expanded human rights guarantees, as well as mentioning improvements in women's rights and indigenous rights, but noted a "wide range of government policies that have undercut the human rights protections established" by the revised constitution.[369] In particular, the report accused Chávez and his administration of engaging in discrimination on political grounds, eroding the independence of the judiciary, and of engaging in "policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression, workers' freedom of association, and civil society's ability to promote human rights in Venezuela"


In 2010, Amnesty International criticized the Chávez administration for targeting critics following several politically motivated arrests.[377] Freedom House listed Venezuela as being "partly free" in its 2011 Freedom in the World annual report, noting a recent decline in civil liberties.[378] A 2010 Organization of American States report found concerns with freedom of expression, human rights abuses, authoritarianism, press freedom, threats to democracy,[379][380] as well as erosion of separation of powers, the economic infrastructure and ability of the president to appoint judges to federal courts.

Human Rights Watch criticized Chávez for engaging in "often discriminatory policies that have undercut journalists' freedom of expression".[370] Freedom House listed Venezuela's press as being "Not Free" in its 2011 Map of Press Freedom, noting that "[t]he gradual erosion of press freedom in Venezuela continued in 2010."[397] Reporters Without Borders criticized the Chávez administration for "steadily silencing its critics".[398] In the group's 2009 Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders noted that "Venezuela is now among the region’s worst press freedom offenders.





https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugo_Ch%C3%A1vez

[Mike Rows His Boat]

45. You mistake my criticism of your untruths with support for Chavez/Maduro.

If you're going to support your arguments, at least do it truthfully.

You said that Chavez was unpopular at his re election. Not evidenced by a 75% turnout & 63% win.

Now, you're shifting the topic in your responses.


Have a great day doing this. Not playing games with shifting goalposts with you.
You want to universally condemn the Ven gov't? Go ahead. Just do it in a fact-based and coherent way.

[EX500rider]

46. I said his 1st elections were clean..

....then he started the jailing popular politicians and the buying of votes and the crack down on the free press.

[scarletwoman]

2. It is so sad to see the disintegration of Venezuela.

Real DU oldtimers might possibly remember me as a Chavista way back when. I certainly wanted his socialist "Bolivarian Revolution" to succeed.

Unfortunately, due to his reliance on the then high oil prices, as well as the Venezuelan oil industry for the financial means to back up his reforms; instead of diversifying the Venezualean economy, he left it completely reliant on the oil market. Once he died and the bottom fell out of the oil market, the country was left S.O.L., and Maduro clearly has not the smarts or charisma or vision to bring along the populace into a national project of betterment.

[stevenleser]

6. It's all that and more. A complete catastrophe.

Everywhere you go in Latin America, Venezuelans are either trying to migrate there in large numbers, go there on work visas in large numbers. or both.

[Demovictory9]

13. it's a disaster

[Perseus]

9. And that is why one has to do a lot of research before giving support to a politician

Chavez was never about making Venezuela a better country. To begin with, he was a criminal who lead a failed coup and he and his men killed a good number of innocent people.

From the very beginning he allied himself to Fidel Castro, it is like what is happening in the USA with trump and putin...Because Chavez was a political neophyte, Castro led him all the years he was in power, and Castro's only goal was to enrich Cuba with Venezuelan oil, and not for the Cubans but for him and his family.

Everyone allied with Chavez in Venezuela began robbing the country and they are all millionaires today, his family now owns a huge compound and are worth a few billion dollars.

He created a militia which has been responsible for thousands of deaths of innocent people, these militias have made kidnapping an industry in Venezuela. Nine out of ten people have been robbed in plain light, in the middle of the street with onlookers, and anyone who dared to help the person being robbed got shot.

I remember many people at DU praising Chavez and his "socialist" regime. One thing to be clear about is that "socialism" is only a theory, it doesn't work by itself, it is just a tool used by dictators to seduce the masses. Democratic-Socialism does work because it controls capitalism and also provides social services to the population to help them get ahead.

It is important to take the experience of having supported Chavez in the past and then seeing the truth of his intentions to make sure that in the future due diligence will be made to elect and support good people who are sincere in helping the country become better.

This is no criticism on your past support for Chavez, a lot of people believed him when he first came on the scene, his rhetoric during the campaign has to be one of the best which, if he had carried out half of what he promised, Venezuela would not be in the situation they find themselves in today.

They claim 48% attendance for voting, I have my reasons to believe that it is a lie, all the videos I have seen show the voting places completely empty, when in the past there were lines around the blocks, not one person seen voting today in almost all those places.

[joshcryer]

10. It is an absolute tragedy what has happened to that country.

I was a Chavista in the very early years but opened my eyes to the rampant cronyism. I just had to stop paying attention to that country.

Venezuela could've gone the way of Chile in the nearly two decades of chavismo but instead it has turned into a depostic nightmare hellhole. Whenever I go on Venezuelan forums all I see is death, destruction, cronyism, and suffering.

I warned years ago that the US was getting off of Venezuelan oil and the prospects for using the oil to build a civilized society are quickly dimming. There's a literal migration crisis as Venezuelans are migrating out of Venezuela to Colombia, of all places. Colombia.

[GatoGordo]

21. Chavez promised them Sweden, then delivered Cuba

He was no friend to the unions. He busted the PdVSA union in 2003 (Reagan and PATCO, anyone?) when he fired 18,000 who struck for better wages and benefits and replaced them with PSUV party lackeys.

The entire infrastructure of VZ is a shambles. He (and now Maduro) place priority on buying votes and not on effective stewardship.

[Judi Lynn]

3. Same maneuver was employed against Hugo Chavez once, as well.

Same racist right-wingers attempted to claim Chavez' election was fixed, as well.

When they know they won't win, they attempt to arrange the perception that they were "cheated."

Maybe the masses don't like the racist oligarchy's history formed before Chavez, including the Caracazo Massacre, and their "guarimbas" (violent protests) when they were put out of power by Hugo Chavez.

[stevenleser]

5. Maduro maneuvered this election in such a way that the opposition couldn't organize in time

to field a candidate. That is the same thing as not offering the people a choice.

Venezuela has utterly disintegrated, from one of the best economies in the region to one of the worst. Add rampant crime, the worst homicide rate in the region and it's the sick man of South America. Venezuelans are trying to emigrate or go other places for work in huge numbers.

[Archae]

7. "It's da CIA's fault!"

[stevenleser]

8. Yeah, I'm sure that's coming. nt

[joshcryer]

11. You mean they banned and jailed literally every opposition candidate.

[stevenleser]

18. Exactly. That was their opening salvo in December. Then they played around to make sure

that none of the other parties could field an effective candidate either.

Sickening.

[Yupster]

12. I have a friend from Colombia

He bought a home recently. He's working on getting his citizenship.

He had a housewarming party and staying with him was a very pretty young woman from Venezuela. She didn't speak English but my friend said her goal is to marry am American but whatever happens she won't go back to Venezuela when her visa expires. My friend is quite a bit older, and is a skilled oil worker who is married to a doctor.

[GatoGordo]

22. happens all the time

Plenty of young girls with no prospects in Venezuela are now "consorts" for men who can pay for their services throughout Latin America.

I was in Costa Rica within the last 6 months, and there were so many Venezuelan women working in brothels and on the streets that it was newsworthy. Typically, CR media likes to keeps such things "sub-rosa", but the CR women working in such trades were complaining that they were having to cut wages due to increased supply.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

30. They could come to Miami and be doing the same on Calle Ocho.

More prostitutes lining Calle Ocho than you can shake a stick at. Vast increase in numbers.
Most of them are ex-Cubans and immigrants/refugees from other Lat Am/Caribbean countries.
Good to keep in mind that when you're pointing a finger, there's three fingers pointing back at you.

[JI7]

25. Sad. They could be doing so well there and it could

be a place tourists around ther world come to.

But shitty leaders destroying the country.

[7962]

16. Because it WAS fixed. Please educate yourself as to whats going on in that sad country.

The "red points" where you got food and water after scanning you "fatherland" card. Does that sound familiar? Long as you vote the "right" way you get to survive another day
The govt "helpers" posted to "assist" voters
It goes on and on.
Racists! Racists! Everywhere!!

You're OK with seeing millions of people literally go hungry EVERY DAY just to feed the bloated Maduro's ego? And his minions?
SAD!

[MosheFeingold]

19. I'm not sure how race has anything to do with anything here

The election was pretty clearly a sham.

[EX500rider]

23. "Same racist right-wingers attempted to claim Chavez' election was fixed"

Echoing the views of Venezuela's tattered opposition movement, the U.S., European Union and many Latin American countries have already said they won't recognize the results.

Are you saying the EU is run by "right wing racists"? lol


"When they know they won't win"
You mean when Maduro jails them on trumped up charges so they can't run?


The 14-nation Lima group of Latin American countries plus Canada issued a statement on Monday saying it did not recognise the legitimacy of Venezuela’s presidential election.

Canada also run by "racist right-wingers"?

[GatoGordo]

24. Name the racist right wingers.

You go on and on about the reactionary right wing in Venezuela, yet you never put a name on them.

Please inform us WHO the right wing racists in Venezuela are?

[Judi Lynn]

28. Guardian: Venezuela shows that protest can be a defence of privilege

Street action is now regularly used with western backing to target elected governments in the interests of elites

Seumas Milne in Caracas

@seumasmilne
Wed 9 Apr 2014 16.30 EDT

If we didn't know it before, the upsurge in global protest in the past couple of years has driven home the lesson that mass demonstrations can have entirely different social and political meanings. Just because they wear bandannas and build barricades – and have genuine grievances – doesn't automatically mean protesters are fighting for democracy or social justice.

From Ukraine to Thailand and Egypt to Venezuela, large-scale protests have aimed at, or succeeded in, ousting elected governments in the past year. In some countries, mass protests have been led by working class organisations, targeting austerity and corporate power. In others, predominantly middle class unrest has been the lever to restore ousted elites.

Sometimes, in the absence of political organisation, they can straddle the two. But whoever they represent, they tend to look similar on TV. And so effective have street demonstrations been in changing governments over the past 25 years that global powers have piled into the protest business in a major way.

From the overthrow of the elected Mossadegh government in Iran in the 1950s, when the CIA and MI6 paid anti-government demonstrators, the US and its allies have led the field: sponsoring "colour revolutions", funding client NGOs and training student activists, fuelling social media protest and denouncing – or ignoring – violent police crackdowns as it suits them.

. . .

What are portrayed as peaceful protests have all the hallmarks of an anti-democratic rebellion, shot through with class privilege and racism. Overwhelmingly middle class and confined to wealthy white areas, the protests have now shrunk to firebombings and ritual fights with the police, while parts of the opposition have agreed to peace talks.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/09/venezuela-protest-defence-privilege-maduro-elites

[7962]

33. Pretty much the weakest response you could've found. A 4 yr old article blaming Obama & the US.

And also calling Maduro a "progressive". What an insult to actual progressives.
In case you haven't noticed, the "rich" mentioned as villains in the article have mostly already fled this failed country.
This shitty attempt at journalism claims that poverty is 1/3 of what it used to be.
The reality is the Bolivar has lost 99% of its value, basic commodities are nowhere to be found (unless you're in the govt!), businesses are robbed by the govt, trade and travel is pretty much non-existant, etc. Professional women have been reduced to prostitution in neighboring countries. The list goes on. The ONLY reason the richest country in South America hasnt totally fallen apart yet is because of heavy Cuban & Russian involvement. Are you also critical of THEM for clamping down on opposition? Would you like it if Trumps backers did the same thing HERE?

But you actually think WE are to blame for this incompetence. Amazing.

[Judi Lynn]

34. So much depends upon whose "facts" you're using, doesn't it? You betcha. n/t

[7962]

35. Yes, REAL as opposed to fabricated. nt

[Jedi Guy]

38. It's less about the "facts" you're using.

It's more that you're shockingly, sickeningly, ludicrously uninformed. All you've got in response to the problems with this sham election is "the racist right wingers did it!!1" Absolutely absurd.

The tactics used by Maduro to "win" this election are utterly reprehensible. Why are you carrying water for this kind of thuggery?

[EX500rider]

40. Their are some posters who think Cuba is a vibrant democracy, so of course Venezuela looks good.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

47. Please define your vision of "a vibrant democracy" succinctly for us please. Thanks.

[EX500rider]

48. One with more then 1 ruling party and president for 50 years,

[Mike Rows His Boat]

49. So Venezuela fits your description.

As for Cuba ...

Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (April 17, 1919 – June 23, 1983) was a Cuban politician who served as the President of Cuba from 1959 until 1976

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osvaldo_Dorticós_Torrado

You know jack about Cuba.

[EX500rider]

50. lol, sorry, Fidel was in charge no matter what figure head they had on top of the cake.

[EX500rider]

51. here:

Fidel Castro was the leader of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), and was in power first as Prime Minister and then as President, from 1959 until 2008.
Since Cuba became a one-party republic and the Communist party became the official political party, the Cuban political system has been condemned by opposition groups, human rights groups, and foreign Western governments as undemocratic, a dictatorship or an authoritarian or totalitarian state, with all public elections considered to be only show elections.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Cuba

[EX500rider]

52. "So Venezuela fits your description." No.

Those were the reasons Cuba is not a democracy, Venezuela has other reasons.

[Scurrilous]

14. Six more years of the Maduro diet.

Those poor people are fucked.

[brooklynite]

31. I understand that election ballots can double as toilet paper...

[Alethia Merritt]

15. This really caught my eye:

"The opposition throughout the day argued that a Maduro victory would lack legitimacy because many voters stayed home, heeding the call to boycott an election seen as rigged."

Sound familiar? Can we get a new election based on the same allegation?

All culprits on the right and on the left who had this as their mantra gave us what we now have in the WH. When it comes to elections, non-participation is actually a vote...for what you don't want.

[sandensea]

20. +1

The leading opposition candidate himself, progressive Henri Falcón (who would have been their best choice, I think), repeatedly called on anti-Maduro voters not to boycott.

Their contention, of course, is that they would have been cheated - but even if true, staying home only legitimizes the presumptive fraud. It makes the culprits' job that much easier.

"See? We didn't cheat; they didn't vote."

The very thing the GOP had been trying to accomplish for 20 years.

[Mike Rows His Boat]

32. Yep. Good points.

Last edited Mon May 21, 2018, 05:23 PM - Edit history (1)

Makes one wonder about the posters supporting the very action (boycotting voting) that empower the claimed fraud. Hmmm.

[GatoGordo]

26. I would disagree

While abstention isn't a good thing ordinarily, it was what was needed in this scenario.

Maduro had showed time and time again that he wasn't going to play fair. If all 20 million Venezuelans had shown up to vote, he would have received 67% of the votes. If 10 Venezuelans had shown up, he would have had 67% of the votes.

It doesn't matter, because each time the opposition in Venezuela played by the rules, Chavismo changed the rules.

His CNE is illegal. His TSJ is illegal. His ANC is illegal. His security apparatus doesn't answer to the constitution, only to the PSUV and Maduro. Maduro has given the military control over the oil. He has replaced every lieutenant through general with party loyalists.

Falcon is a former PSUV lackey (but still an avowed Chavist) who STILL thinks that The Answer is "another election". Maduro has proven time and again that the rule of law doesn't apply to him and the Bolivarian Revolution.

The elections were a joke. All the major political parties were banned from fielding a candidate, as well as ANY legitimate threats from individual candidates.

[7962]

17. Another Socialist failure. As always. Total Socialism is total failure & corruption.

Always has been , always WILL be.

[JI7]

27. That's why the solution is safety net

[Adrahil]

36. The forgot to print it as "winner" NT