Venezuela’s election commission is investigating both sides in this year’s bitterly contested presidential race over alleged campaign irregularities, a mere two months before voters head to the polls in the South American OPEC nation.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is squaring off against opposition candidate Henrique Capriles in an Oct. 7 vote that has become the controversial socialist leader’s toughest political battle of his 14 years in power.
With both camps leveling accusations of foul play, all eyes are on the National Electoral Council, which said late on Thursday it was investigating state television channel VTV, government-run newspaper Correo del Orinoco and the opposition campaign.
It said VTV had allegedly paid for election propaganda, while the Correo del Orinoco used the image of an opposition candidate without permission in a negative ad. It also cited the opposition for allegedly exceeding the limits on television and print commercials, and added that it would consider whether Capriles was breaking any rules by regularly donning a baseball cap featuring the Venezuelan flag. If either side is found guilty of an infraction, they could be fined.
In the lead up to the vote, pressure is growing on the council to take stronger action to ensure a balanced campaign. Chavez has also called on state media to abide by electoral rules.
After the announcement, the two sides traded barbs.
“You have to listen to the umpire. If the umpire tells you, ‘Look, Chavez is crowding the plate, step away from home plate,’ I can say I’m okay and he can say no, move back. You have to move back,” Chavez, an ardent baseball fan, said on Friday.
In a message on Twitter after the council’s decision, his rival Capriles said: “Here there are thousands of Venezuelans in shelters who lost their homes and their needs are not met — but the issue for the government is the hat I use.”
“We’re not breaking any electoral norms,” Capriles added.
Capriles’ team cannot match the resources of Chavez, who frequently obliges both state and private TV stations to carry his hours-long speeches and appearances live in so-called cadenas or nationwide “chain” broadcasts.
Chavez says he only uses cadenas for government business and that they are unrelated to his campaign. At one recent rally, he chided supporters who called for him to order a broadcast, saying he had to stick to the rules. In a bid to get its message to wealthier voters, Chavez’s team began running campaign videos this week on paid cable TV channels, including multiple spots during Warner Bros’ popular sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Chavez is seeking a new six-year term at the helm of South America’s biggest oil exporter. However, he has had three cancer operations in the last year and has been unable to match the intensive campaigning of his younger challenger.
The 58-year-old, who says he is completely cured, remains popular thanks to huge state spending on social programs and the enduring emotional connection that even his fiercest critics concede he shares with the country’s poor majority. Capriles, 40, has been drawing big crowds while projecting an energetic image. One opinion poll showed a close race, but most respected surveys give Chavez a solid double-digit lead.
After all but disappearing from public view earlier this year while undergoing treatment, Chavez’s energy levels appear to have returned — back are the hours-long campaign rallies and televised speeches. On Tuesday, he flew to Brazil for a ceremony when Venezuela joined the regional trade bloc Mercosur.
Capriles, the candidate of a newly united opposition coalition, wants to capitalize on pent-up frustration among many voters weary of high crime, inefficient public services and high prices, and is pledging to set up a Brazil-style government that would be friendly to business, but also maintain social programs.
‘NEO-NAZIS’: A minister described the rally as ‘spreading hate’ and ‘dividing our communities,’ adding that it had been organized and promoted by far-right groups Thousands of Australians joined anti-immigration rallies across the country yesterday that the center-left government condemned, saying they sought to spread hate and were linked to neo-Nazis. “March for Australia” rallies against immigration were held in Sydney, and other state capitals and regional centers, according to the group’s Web site. “Mass migration has torn at the bonds that held our communities together,” the Web site said. The group posted on X on Saturday that the rallies aimed to do “what the mainstream politicians never have the courage to do: demand an end to mass immigration.” The group also said it was concerned about culture,
CRACKDOWN: The Indonesian president vowed to clamp down on ‘treason and terrorism,’ while acceding to some protest demands to revoke lawmaker benefits Protests in Indonesia over rising living costs and inequality intensified overnight, prompting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto to cancel a planned trip to China, while demonstrators reportedly targeted the homes of the finance minister and several lawmakers. Rioters entered Indonesian Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati’s residence near Jakarta early yesterday, but were repelled by armed forces personnel, Kompas reported. Items were taken from the homes of lawmaker Ahmad Sahroni and two others, according to Detik.com. The reports of looting could not be independently verified, and the finance ministry has not responded to requests for comment. The protests were sparked by outrage over
VENEZUELAN ACTION: Marco Rubio said that previous US interdiction efforts have not stemmed the flow of illicit drugs into the US and that ‘blowing them up’ would US President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified a lethal military strike that his administration said was carried out a day earlier against a Venezuelan gang as a necessary effort by the US to send a message to Latin American cartels. Asked why the military did not instead interdict the vessel and capture those on board, Trump said that the operation would cause drug smugglers to think twice about trying to move drugs into the US. “There was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people and everybody fully understands that,” Trump said while hosting Polish President
A French couple kept Louise, a playful black panther, in an apartment in northern France, triggering panic when she was spotted roaming nearby rooftops. The pair were were handed suspended jail sentences on Thursday for illegally keeping a wild animal, despite protesting that they saw Louise as their baby. The ruling follows a September 2019 incident when the months-old feline was seen roaming a rooftop in Armentieres after slipping out of the couple’s window. Authorities captured the panther by sedating her with anesthetic darts after she entered a home. No injuries were reported during the animal’s time on the loose. The court in the
RSS