Caracas Chronicles

Looking at the results of chavismo’s primary for the 16-D regional elections, one thing stands out: all the names selected for the governors’ races are from Chávez’s own PSUV party.

No other member of the Gran Polo Patriotico (GPP) coalition of political parties is present in the final list of candidates, even though they proposed at least 40 different names to Chávez himself.

He passed over all of them.

Well, one of those parties has decided to draw the line: the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), one of the oldest active parties in the country and a faithful (if often maligned) ally of the comandante presidente. The PCV card got almost half million votes in the October 7th presidential election, more than Voluntad Popular, proving the electoral heft of the “red rooster”.

Looks like that didn’t make a difference in the political front. Therefore, they decided to run on their own in four states: Amazonas, Bolívar, Mérida and Portuguesa. However, they pledged support for the other 19 PSUV-imposed candidates, including in some cases where they had serious concerns, like the selection of total batequebrao Francisco Ameliach in Carabobo.

Not everybody inside the GPP agrees with PCV’s position. Carmelo González, national secretary of UPV (Lina Ron’s party and another ally of Chavismo, more hardcore than the rest of the bunch) has attacked the communists for breaking internal disclipline and “playing the game of the right”.

The case of Mérida is the most eye-catching, as the PCV and other Chavista-related parties have turned their backs on official candidate Alexis Ramírez (a local member of the National Assembly) and given their support instead to former governor Florencio Porras.

The 16-D elections will be a major test for the GPP, just like it will be for the MUD.