Live Blogging Venezuela's Presidential Race (Blog on today's election)

VCrisis ^ | 12/02/2006 | Aleksandr Boyd

[Nextrush]

Caracas 02.12.06 (4:54 pm all times are local) This post will be updated regularly in the next 48 hours. Unfortunately the campaign ended. In the last three months Manuel Rosales did what the analysts thought impossible, which is to have united the opposition mounting a phenomenal platform against the incumbent. At this time tomorrow we will have a pretty clear idea of who won. Just then I sat in a meeting with advisors that are considering the different likely outcomes and the stance that Rosales should take in each of them. Very interesting times ahead. During installation of voting centres, composed by a varying number of booths-locally known as mesas-a rather peculiar thing happened: all witnesses and observers designated by the Rosales camp showed up wheras the counterparts from officialdom did not. A sign of things to come?......

6:56pm: Spreading gossip and rumours seems to be the favorite past time of some rank and file oppositionists. I just talked to a retired high rank army officer-whose name I can't reveal- and, in his view, Rosales does not stand a chance for the regieme will roll out some sort of destablization plan at noon tomorrow.....

[StJacques]

A Latin American Left Watch ping here.

By way of update, El Universal (Caracas) has reported the announcement of the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) that voting has ended.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(5:12 p.m.) CNE Declares Official End to the Voting Process

Caracas.-The official end of the day of voting was declared by the National Electoral Council (CNE) though the body ordered those centers which may still have voters in line to stay open.

The President of the CNE, Tibisay Lucena, stressed that once the process of voting is concluded in those centers they cannot accept more voters.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I will be posting more later.

[BunnySlippers]

Bookmark n' Bump

[StJacques]

Update:

No official results nor exit polls released in the Venezuelan press.

The Rosales campaign is angry that Venezuelan military effectives of Plan República are keeping polling places open past closing hours.

Here is a translated excerpt from the report:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rosales Command Denounces Plan República for Impeding the Closing of Voting Desks

Caracas.-The campaign command of candidate Manuel Rosales denounced that officials of Plan República are impeding the closing of voting desks that do not have voters in line.

Enrique Marquez, member of the command, indicated that according to reports which they have received there are members of Plan República who are contravening the instructions emanating from the National Electoral Council (CNE), which in his judgement must be sanctioned by the Electoral Authority.

He made a call to the commander of the Unified Command of the National Armed Forces (Cufan), Wilfredo Silva; to the Minister of Defense, Raul Isaias Baduel and to all the members of Plan República to act out the orders of the CNE and to close "immediately" all the voting desks in which there are no voters standing in line. . . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There is also a followup allegation that Plan República troops are reopening closed voting desks. Here's an excerpt:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------
Rosales Command Denounces Forced Reopening of Closed Voting Desks

Caracas.- Eliseo Fermin, member of the campaign command of presidential candidate Manuel Rosales denounced the forced reopening of voting desks which were already found closed.

The spokesman explained that people are being brought in who are arriving in military trucks and buses at voting precincts.

Fermin denounced the fact that they were closing these precincts but "they were obligated to open them by forced to bring in people who are arriving there from who knows where in buses at those centers . . .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------

We should be hearing some preliminary results over the next couple of hours. Univision said they expected to know something by late tonight.

[kanawa]

Bump/Placemarker

[StJacques]

I'll need to read my translations more closely.

I translated the following in my previous post #23:

"they were obligated to open them by forced to bring in people who are arriving there from who knows where in buses at those centers . . ."

That should read:

"they were obligated to open them by being forced to bring in people who are arriving there from who knows where in buses at those centers . . ."

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Others posted exit poll - Chavez 58% of the vote. His opponent 40% of the vote. And that Chavez has shut down the American television station.

Venezuela the communist country continues. God help the Venezuelan people to throw off their dictator!!!!

[supremedoctrine]

These threads seem to have ended. There is a report from 40 minutes ago that Chavez has claimed victory with I believe 61% of the vote. No ongoing coverage, though, and no other news.

[Kitten Festival]

Rosales is on TV right now, I hear he is conceding. This is really getting creepy.

[StJacques]

Venezuela's National Electoral Council has announced that with 78.3% of the vote counted Hugo Chavez has 61.35% to 38.39% for Rosales.

I see no real hope in the count itself.

[Wilhelm Tell]

I guess this is the last presidential election Venezuela will have in many years. Chavez won't have to make even a pretense at democracy as he plunges the country into 100% communism. Now we will see an example of a country with oil riches being driven to poverty and a country with agricultural resources being driven to starvation. Very sad.

[Alia]

I see no real hope in the count itself.

Completely understood, here.

[Alia]

I'm sorry it took me this long to get at reading your superb post, Founding Father. Your analysis was good and cogent.

Headline at news of Chavez' win. If I hadn't already learned so much about the Chavez' machine, I'd wonder about the voters who elected Chavez in Venezuela. This morning, however, I'm still wondering about the voters. I'm sad Rosales lost.

Chavez has promised a "chicken in every pot". Venzuelans are about to find out about the hidden costs involved with that promise.

[Alia]

Elecciones3D) After arriving at 6:45 AM to vote, only to find that the vote had not even started at my center, I finally left at 10:30 AM, an absurd three hours and forty five minutes later. While much better that the recall vote, when it took me a full ten hours, so much fos spending hundreds of million of dollars to voting machines and equipment only to make it worse than ever

Doesn't it gall you to read some Americans won't vote if they have to wait in a line, or that they give up while standing in line?

[Alia]

The blog you've linked to (
http://blogs.salon.com/0001330) is very good; excellent info.

[Freedom'sWorthIt]

Venzuelans are about to find out about the hidden costs involved with that promise."

As night follows day, starvation, death squads in the night, gulags follow a communist dictator's ascent to power.

I hurt for the suffering of the people of Venezuela that is about to cover that country AND for the threat to the United States that Venezuela is rapidly becoming.

Pat Robertson was right.