PSUV Leader Denounces Fraud in Opposition Primaries

The first vice-president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Diosdado Cabello, denounced on Monday electoral fraud in the opposition primary elections held on Sunday, October 22.

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The opposition in Venezuela celebrated this Monday what it described as the triumph of the right-wing María Corina Machado in the primaries. These elections were held to choose the candidate to face President Nicolás Maduro in the presidential elections of 2024.

In the regular press conference of the party, Cabello revealed that these elections were not organized by any electoral commission, but by Súmate, an organization that "is the U.S. imperialism." He said that the U.S. is the one who moves the money for all this, and pointed out that Washington was the only government that pronounced itself on these elections.

The PSUV leader showed an audio in which an opposition militant and the mayor of the Bolivarian municipality of Angostura, in the state of Bolivar, are heard agreeing on the alteration of the electoral results to favor the opposition candidate of their convenience.

The tweet reads, ""Is all this to generate violence? Respect the 600 thousand Venezuelans who voted, acknowledge them. What they are doing leaves them extremely bad. The violence is generated by the opposition and all the campaign they had to attack their own process", Diosdado Cabello."

In the audio, it is clearly heard how the opposition mayor orders to place 100 more votes to the candidate Freddy Superlano, who in a legal way had only obtained 92 votes.  "You give him 100 more votes" says the mayor, and then the opposition militant indicates that she will give him a total of 192 votes. 

The also deputy of the National Assembly qualified the action as shameful and said that "it is an electoral fraud that will allow the end of the traditional parties." Cabello noted that vote manipulation did not only occur in the state of Bolivar, but also in other entities of the country.

The PSUV leader pointed out that now they are trying to inflate the number of votes, they intend to raise it above two million. This process was "a great media operation" and is "neither transparent, nor credible nor verifiable nor is it an election," said Cabello. 

Among the irregularities found, he also pointed out that not all the voting centers were installed and that the notebooks with which the people voted do not exist, nor can the notebooks be compared with the voting.

When referring to the virtual winner of yesterday's elections, María Corina Machado, Cabello said that "this lady will not participate under any circumstances" in the 2024 presidential elections. Those who violated the Constitution and the laws will be subjected to what they establish, he said. 

In addition, the PSUV first vice-president reiterated that there is no possibility that "a person who is disqualified can be qualified to participate in a presidential election."