This Is How It's Done
After taking a break from the election travesty that occurred in the Barinas governor's race we're back at it again.We briefly recapped what happened last week but I came across something that makes the stealing of the vote even more egregious. Let's take a quick look at exactly what happened and you'll see that when it comes to stealing an election, this is how it's done.
Of the 3,082 races in the regional and local elections on November 21st only two were not called by the end of the day. One was subsequently called for the PSUV (Chavista) candidate. The other was Barinas,the long time Chavista stronghold and birthplace of Hugo Chavez,hugely symbolic. An opposition victory would be a big blow to Chavismo and the vote was very close which surprised almost everybody.Here's how it went down.
Adolfo Superlano filed a motion with the TSJ (supreme court) to "protect the public voting rights." ( Pretty much every time the Chavistas say something is "for the people" the only ones who benefit are the Chavistas.
TSJ's electoral chamber received a resolution from the Office of the Comptroller saying on August 17th,2021, Freddy Superlano (no relation) had been barred from holding public office. There was no mention of the agreement in the Mexico negotiations between the opposition and the Maduro regime allowing his candidacy.
TSJ ordered the CNE (electoral council) to halt the vote count.
The same day, the TSJ ruled that Freddy Superlano couldn't hold public office and ordered a new vote. It's worth noting that in it's summary the CNE projected a victory by Freddy Superlano, even with the vote count halted.If the Office of the Comptroller had barred Freddy Superlano from running in August why did they allow his campaign to proceed and not advise the CNE until it appeared he would win after the votes were cast in November?
Freddy Superlano filed an appeal of the TSJ's Electoral Chamber ruling with the TSJ's Constitutional Chamber. Remember, both chambers are presided over by their chief justice, Maikel Moreno, a convicted murderer. It's been repeated many times that "There is no greater affront to the rule of law than putting a criminal in charge of the justice system." And don't forget that at one time Moreno's TSJ reviewed about 50,000 petitions and the rulings were in favor of Chavismo, 50,000 to zero!
The TSJ Constitutional Chamber upheld the Electoral Chamber's ruling. So, the question is…does TSJ precedent apply? Short answer…No! (In the land of Chavismo …"The law is what we say it is.")
In 2007 there were the same circumstances with the winning candidate representing PSUV (Chavistas).The PSUV candidate had been stripped of eligibility prior to the election but it was "unknown" to the CNE. The Constitutional Chamber ruled that the election should stand saying that "the will of the voters" had priority over other considerations.
In 2010,again, with the same situation the TSJ Constitutional Chamber upheld this precedent.
So why does the precedent not apply here? The TSJ says the Freddy Superlano case is different because he was never declared the winner by the CNE. Uhh… and why would that be? Because the TSJ stopped the vote count!!
These are the "free and fair elections" in the land of 21st Century Bolivarian Socialism.
A couple of other quick election related nuggets…CNE denies reports that they are migrating voters to Barinas to vote in the January 9th election for governor. We also have the TSJ denying the request for a revote in Lara state (won by the Chavistas). We also have Sumate reporting that Maduro is using state media to campaign for Jorge Areazza in the Barinas race, a clear violation of the Constitution,Anti-corruption law, and election law. Once again…"The law is what we say it is."
How about a little Human Rights news? The Fundaredes Human Rights activists finally had their hearing (after months of delays). All three are charged with "promoting hate" (there's that hate-law again).Two are under house arrest. The third is still imprisoned in El Heliocide under the watchful eye of SEBIN (part of the three headed monster of Maduro's 'not so secret' security services) and is also charged with terrorism and has been subjected to torture.
We also have Telesur (government media) reporting that the Netherlands has denied a Conviasa (Venezuela government owned airline) flight entry into the country for a meeting with Karim Khan, head of the ICC (International Criminal Court), currently investigating the Maduro regime for Human Rights violations and crimes against humanity. VP Delcy Rodriguez is not happy.
And then we have the UCV (Venezuela Central University) students protesting …again regarding the installation of Jaqueline Farias as "protector." Remember, this is the same strategy (and position) Maduro unconstitutionally created to usurp power wherever opposition governors were elected. Until now the UCV has always been an autonomous institution. The student's spokesperson says "There's no such thing as a 'protector' for UCV." Tell that to those opposition governors.
And in case you thought there might be one area of life not touched by the ravages of Chavismo, think again. The president of Critics Circuit of Caracas says the closure of the Contemporary Art Center of Caracas is imminent. The facility is in poor condition and the artworks are at risk due to neglect. They are asking the private sector for help in preserving the center and it's 'degrading by the day' artworks. The Culture Minister denies this however there is no published budget and no statement on the condition of the artworks.
And in the "no surprise" category we have Juan Guaido (interim president acknowledged by 60 countries) saying he wants a Presidential election to "Get rid of Maduro" and the first step would be the restart of the talks in Mexico between the opposition and the Maduro regime regarding a framework for free and fair elections. Good luck with that. (Maduro says there will be no more talks until someone answers for the "kidnapping" of Alex Saab, the corrupt businessman at the center of Maduro's fraudulent financial enterprises)