Narrow Election Victory by Chávez Favorite is a Win for Opposition Too
Narrow Election Victory by Chávez Favorite is a Win for Opposition Too
Nicolás Maduro’s slim presidential victory shows that “the opposition far out-performed the most objective [election] estimates,” notes COA’s Eric Farnsworth.
Interim President Nicolás Maduro's razor-thin victory stunned Venezuelans on both sides of the country's political divide, sending throngs of his supporters to celebrate in front of Miraflores palace, and leaving his critics crying foul.
Mr. Maduro, late President Hugo Chávez's chosen successor and heavy favorite, barely beat his opponent Henrique Capriles, causing the challenger to demand a recount. Preliminary results showed Maduro receiving 50.7 percent of the vote to Capriles's 49.1 percent.
In a fiery speech that followed the results, Capriles cited evidence of more than 3,200 cases of irregularities during the vote, including intimidation and breaching the right to keep votes secret.
"I don't deal with lies and corruption," he said. "Mr. Maduro, if you were illegitimate before, now you are even more loaded with illegitimacy...."
"They [the opposition] far out-performed the most objective estimates," says Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas and the Americas Society in Washington.
Capriles' platform has centered on pro-business policies and a promise to crack down on crime, while Mr. Maduro's main push was to preserve the former president's self-declared "socialist revolution."
"[The opposition] can continue hammering on the issue, which is a winner for them: the state of the country," says Mr. Farnsworth.
With the specifics of a recount just beginning to take shape, and with the political landscape in flux, the only certain thing is a divided country....
