Caracas Chronicles

Discontent inside Chavismo has been brewing in recent times. but as each day passes, more and more factions are openly challenging the PSUV.

El Nacional’s Hernan Lugo-Galicia had the details a couple of days ago on four Chavista groups that have decided to forsake the Grand Patriotic Pole coalition and run alone for the upcoming legislative election. (Well not so alone, but I’ll get to that.)

Remember the Bolivarian Circles? No? What about the MBR-200? Neither?

Ok, here’s a quick recap: The first one was Chavismo’s original model of base organization, but became more known back then for their violence. It slowly fell into oblivion.

The second one was the comandante presidente’s first political movement, prominent during the two 1992 coup attempts, and replaced in 1997 by the MVR party (and changed into PSUV a decade later).

Well, there are still remnants of both alive, and recently had their national encounter in Caracas in which agreed to unify into a single entity and prepare themselves for the December 6th election.

Ruben Mendoza, who’s identified in El Nacional’s report as the national coordinator of the Bolivarian Circles leaves it quite clear:

(PSUV’s) June 28th primaries were a democratic illusion: They invited the lambs to legitimate the lions. The PSUV is an organization with shared thrones, with kings, viceroys and counts that call “democratic and participatory” elections but in the end they impose their subjects… …the PSUV took over the Grand Patriotic Pole and will give only crumbs to PCV, PPT, REDES and UPV.”

The new alliance of Bolivarian Circles and MBR-200, along with groups Dignity Project and the Anti-Imperialist Popular Union (UPRA), will run their own candidates for the National Assembly, but they lacked an electoral card (a slot on the ballot box) to do so. No problem, as the Workers’ Revolutionary Party (PRT) which offered to lend them theirs. Castillo said they’re got an agreement with PRT’s leadership to put their candidates under its banner.

But hours after the candidate registration began, PRT’s Secretary-General Otto Boudeguer didn’t register those candidacies and finally sided with the PSUV-GPP. According to Mr. Mendoza, Boudeguer felt the pressure from Miraflores and colorin, colorado, esa alianza se ha acabado.

In the end, the PSUV-GPP coalition have their candidates but as Bloomberg News’ Caracas correpondent Anatoly Kurmanaev tweets, it seems like Mr. Mendoza was right all along about the crumbs.

Maduro gives allied leftist parties congress districts they got no chance of winning (Margarita,Miranda); keeps safe seats for @PartidoPSUV

— Anatoly Kurmanaev (@AKurmanaev) August 3, 2015