The electoral authority of Venezuela, controlled by Chavismo, made official this Thursday (27) that the request for a referendum to revoke the mandate of dictator Nicolás Maduro was considered unfounded. The decision was predictable, as the opposition abandoned the process, which took place under precarious conditions.
Tania D’Amelio, a member of the National Electoral Council, reported that 42,421 signatures were received, which is equivalent to 1.01% of registered voters in the country (about 21 million). For the referendum to be called, the organizers needed to gather the signatures of 20% of eligible citizens, or 4.2 million.
The main obstacle was the deadline established by the CNE, last Friday (21) for the collection of signatures: 12 pm, between 6 am and 6 pm, this Wednesday (26).
The process had the support of a small fraction of the opposition, led by the Venezuelan Movement for the Revocation (Mover). Even leaders of that group, however, had already thrown in the towel on voting day, claiming that the imposed demands boycotted the real chances for the referendum to overthrow Maduro.
“It is humanly impossible to collect signatures in this established period. Nor can we expose the population to huge queues amid the outbreak of the omicron variant,” said former governor César Pérez Vivas, one of Mover’s members. Another member of the movement, the dissident of Chavismo Nicmer Evans, defended that the attempt to collect signatures should no longer be made and that a new date be negotiated.
The CNE, however, declared “a new request inadmissible”, in D’Amelio’s words. At the end of the signature collection period on Wednesday, the agency reported on Twitter that the collection points worked “in absolute normality and according to the schedule”. The promise, however, was a confirmation of the result only in February.
The AFP agency noted that many centers installed by the agency to collect signatures were empty on Wednesday afternoon in Caracas. In one of them, for 15 minutes only one person showed up to register his manifestation.
Mover said that it will ask the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice for the nullity of the case. The court, however, is also controlled by Chavismo, as are the National Assembly and the electoral body, which reduces the chances of this demonstration going ahead.
Under international pressure, the Maduro regime even promoted a reform of the National Electoral Council in 2020. But the measure did not grant independence to the body, since, months later, the National Assembly, whose legitimacy is disputed, appointed members to the CNE. who either support or, if opposed, tolerate Chavismo
With a fragmented opposition, the regime has seen recent victories, such as in the November legislative elections, in which it won most local governments, including the mayor of the capital, Caracas. Only 41.8% of voters participated, however. The election was the first with the participation of international observers in 15 years and received criticism.
Even so, the opposition won an important victory in the state of Barinas, birthplace of former President Hugo Chávez, after 22 years in which relatives of the Bolivarian leader were at the head of the state government.
The Venezuelan justice had interfered in the election, demanding the cancellation of the investigation and excluding the opposing candidate when the projections indicated the defeat of Chavismo, but the measure did not prevent the local balance of power from changing.
The Venezuelan Constitution establishes that all positions elected through popular elections can be revoked after half-term via referendum. In 2016, the opposition tried to activate an injunction against Maduro, but the process was blocked by the CNE and TSJ, who said there had been irregularities in the collection of signatures.
The only request for a recall referendum that prospered in the country took place in 2004, against Hugo Chávez – the leader, however, had a substantial victory.
