Primaries in the Vulture's Beak

The National Electoral Council (CNE) offered technical, constitutional, and legal assistance to the opposition primaries. Months after the request, weeks before the primaries.

Hijacked Primaries?

The National Electoral Council (CNE) agreed to provide technical, constitutional, and legal assistance to the primaries of the opposition. The CNE, chaired by former comptroller Elvis Amoroso, responded to a request made by the Primaries Commission in June: shortly before the members of the Council resigned irregularly, leading the Commission to decide on self-managed primaries. According to the statement the CNE can provide support at the request of civil society organizations “or by order of the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice.” Yikes!

The Primaries Commission’s president met with the CNE today after consulting candidates and political sectors of the opposition. Afterwards, the Commission agreed to create a “joint committee” to further evaluate the proposal. The CNE’s assistance is controversial, as it could lead to a postponement of the primaries and to barring candidates banned from running for office.

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From The NYT:

“At a recent Machado campaign event in the state of Guárico, south of Caracas, a teacher named Josefina Romance stood in the audience.

With a new president, Ms. Romance said, ‘We are going to begin to rebuild.’

‘And we will have the hope that private companies that left the country will come back,’ she continued, ‘and that there will be sources of work — so that my children can return.'”

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After ripping off several bandaids and enduring through a storm of brain fog, we have three announcements: 1) We’re bringing fresh twenty-something blood by having Tony join the team as an editor. 2) We want you to enjoy El Feed, which brings all the Venezuelan madness together and 3) We are bringing blogging back. So joins us in the comments again or pitch for us!