The President of the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela, Elvis Amoroso (i), shakes hands with the President of the National Primary Commission, Jesús María Casal (c), after giving a press conference in Caracas.MIGUEL GUTIERREZ (EFE)
The Venezuelan opposition primaries have followed a paved path until, barring anything unexpected, they will finally take place this Sunday amid great uncertainty. Adding to the challenges of complicated logistics managed by civil society and political parties is censorship, as the National Electoral Council was late in providing support. The National Press Union has denounced that journalists and heads of broadcast media have been pressured to stop, as of Friday evening, their limited reporting on the process by which the forces dissident from the Nicolás Maduro government are exercising the muscles of mobilization.
“We document calls and informal communications from regional and national officials of Conatel (National Telecommunications Commission, which regulates radio media) to the directors and owners of radio and television stations, in which they remind the media that “they are not obliged to do this.” cover the event because it is not “official” and does not have the support of the National Electoral Council. In other cases it is expressly stated that “the primaries should not be covered,” writes the NGO Espacio Público in a statement denouncing prior censorship.
Major radio stations across the country suspended their special coverage, as did television networks. It is a practice that was carried out throughout the race. A few months ago, a radio program from a station in the state of Barinas was canceled after candidate Delsa Solórzano was interviewed. In 2022, almost a hundred radio stations across the country were closed, and in 2023, at least 60 domestic and foreign independent digital media websites are blocked – they can only be accessed via a VPN – as well as the search engine that the radio station’s organizers set up Primary elections were created to inform citizens about the location of their polling station for this Sunday.
The media ecosystem in Venezuela has shrunk due to pressure from Chavismo and the economic crisis. Since Hugo Chávez, the so-called communication hegemony has turned the media into another battlefront. That is why one of the commitments of the Barbados Agreement signed this week includes a repeated written demand from political opposition leaders: access to all public and private media for all candidates and the participation of all media in reporting. For example, for this primary election, the Ministry of Communications and Information did not provide accreditations for special envoys from other media outlets to cover the process. This basic requirement of ensuring competitive elections with democratic guarantees is already being ignored. In light of the siege, digital media group Alianza Rebelde Investiga, the Foreign Press Association and other organizations have announced an alliance to jointly cover the trial.
Although everything indicates that the primaries will take place, everything is held against them. The National Primary Commission has been working to set up centers where citizens can exercise their right to vote to elect the unified opposition candidate. A few hours before the start of the trial, some centers are being relocated due to government pressure on the institutions that provided them. In many places, voting will be conducted on the street and, if possible, under an awning, as rain is forecast, which could further dampen turnout. There were also complaints about delays in credentialing witnesses and media.
In the latest Delphos polls a week ago, 66.7% of the population said they were willing to take part in the October 22 election, although only 20% of that group said they had a high or very high likelihood of doing so . This high voter intention could be undermined by all these obstacles, added to the conflicts between candidates over who can run within a highly fragmented opposition. The standard-bearer of Democratic Action, Carlos Prosperi, who is in second place in the polls after the resignation of Henrique Capriles, has been criticizing the process for weeks for logistical shortcomings and, a few hours after the start of the process, called for its suspension over alleged irregularities in the appointment of polling station members through a lottery. After a conversation this Saturday with the organizers, he collected his demands and called for a vote, but left the door open to not recognizing the results. Despite the complex situation, a new phase in the ongoing political conflict in Venezuela will begin as the day of the primary elections begins, with civil society putting renewed pressure on Chavismo.
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