Politics
November 12

Spain expects Venezuela's local elections to run "normally"
The Spanish Secretary of State for Ibero-America, Trinidad Jiménez, hopes that the elections for state governors and mayor which will take place in Venezuela next November 23 will not be affected by any incidents.

Jiménez refused to comment on the statements made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who said some days ago that it was possible that he "would take out the tanks" in Carabobo state, north-west of the country, if the opposition wins local elections there. The Spanish official simply said that "beyond any statements, the election campaign is going normally," Efe reported.

Furthermore, Jiménez said that "the official position of the government of Spain is necessarily to respect the legal procedures established in each country, so that the review procedures on election count can be made in an appropriate manner," she said.

Electoral body refuses to investigate President Chávez
The efforts made by Vicente Díaz, director of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to open administrative proceedings against President Hugo Chávez have failed again.

For the third time during this election campaign, the directors of the CNE, with the sole exception of Díaz, refused to launch an administrative investigation against the Venezuelan President for alleged breach of the election campaign rules during the inauguration of Morón Petrochemical Industry, in the city of Puerto Cabello (central Venezuela).

According to the complaints, Chávez used the official event to promote the candidacy of pro-government politician Mario Silva to the government's office of Carabobo state, and met with Zulia state businessmen to promote the candidacy of pro-government candidate Gian Carlo Di Martino as governor of Zulia State, and to criticize two opposition candidates: Pablo Pérez and Manuel Rosales. Why did the CNE reject to probe Chávez? On this opportunity, the electoral body argued that they cannot restrain Chávez's political rights.

While the CNE refused to investigate Venezuela's Head of State, it approved 47 administrative investigations. Among the most emblematic cases, noteworthy are the investigations against opposition leaders Pablo Pérez, Roberto Smith, Bella Petrizzo, Eduardo Morales, Ramón Muchacho, Willian Dávila and the government's office of Sucre state.

About 130 foreign observers in local elections
A total of 130 foreign observers will take part in Venezuela's election for state governors and mayors to be held on November 23rd, reported on Wednesday, November 12 a press release from the National Electoral Council (CNE).

The observers come from 34 member countries of the Organization of American States (OAS), scholars and representatives of international organizations, explained Rosaura Sierra, director general of CNE International Affairs, Efe quoted.

For her part, CNE director Tibisay Lucena said, "Confidence, curiosity and admiration for the Venezuelan technological platform have turned the traditional international observation into an accompaniment program to learn about the Venezuelan electoral system."

"Electoral representatives from several countries have asked to be invited as observers (...) because they are interested in knowing about automatic voting and horizontal exchange on electoral processes," Lucena added.

November 14

Deadline to withdraw from local electoral race is over
Venezuelan opposition parties did not establish political alliances neither in the states of Anzoátegui, Bolívar, Guárico and Yaracuy nor in Chacao and El Hatillo municipalities, state of Miranda.

The deadline to withdraw from the electoral race for governor's offices and mayoralties ended Thursday at 8:00 p.m. (after a 4-hour extension) and the opposition parties did not achieve the necessary agreements to guarantee a victory in November's regional elections.

The possibility of modifying alliances depended solely on the candidates. Under Article 30 of the nomination regulations, Venezuela's political parties can not replace any candidate unless the candidate quits the race.

Chávez threatens to remove broadcast licenses if election results are disclosed earlier
As the local polls are a few days away, President Hugo Chávez threatened on Friday, November 14 the media to terminate their broadcast licensing if any of them dare to break a regulation that prohibits dissemination of the election results prior to the first bulletin of the National Electoral Council (CNE).

The president has accused the private media identified with the opposition, and termed them "Horsemen of the Apocalypse," of trying to disclose numbers during the polls in order to bias voters, reported Reuters.

"Any radio station or TV channel that violates the election rules on November 23rd; discloses any results before the National Council does it, will be taken off the air and this will be a reason to suspend their license and they will not broadcast anything else never again. Sure I will do it!" said Chavez during a rally.