Venezuela armed forces say they will respect “the decision of the people”
Venezuela’s Bolivarian Armed Forces, FANB, said they are committed to respect “the decision of the people” in the coming presidential election of 7 October but at the same time demanded respect for the institution.
“We have summoned all political actors so that as the Armed Forces will remain loyal to the Constitution and respect the decision of the people, they also respect the decision of the supreme and nobody plays games in advancing results” said the chief of the strategic operational command for election day Wilmer Barrientos.
In a press round following a meeting with the election campaign commands for President Hugo Chavez and opposition candidate Henrique Capriles, Barrientos said that both commands had agreed that that was the way to proceed.
“The role of the Armed Forces, you know, is vital for the electoral process”, said the military chief who emphatically requested respect for the FANB because “it is a highly professional institution”.
Barrientos added that the Armed Forces on Sunday 7 October not only will they have custody of ballot centres but will also ensure security to all the population.
“I’ve made it very clear that the Armed Forces will act convincingly faced with any focus of violence, come from where it may come”, underlined the military officer and called on all sides “to play clean, with no hidden cards” so that the whole electoral process can be accomplished “with the less anxiety possible”.
“IN Venezuela we’ve always lived through the electoral process with anxiety, as if something terrible is always going to happen, while in other countries it is a motive of festivity. All political sectors must be involved so that 7 October is really a true democratic festivity”, insisted Barrientos.
He also revealed that the Armed Forces will have 139,000 military personnel in the streets on election day distributed among 335 town districts and 1.135 parishes
“We are preparing with the utmost awareness, with much professionalism and patriotic duty to ensure that the whole process culminates in parameters of law and safety, and the less stressful possible”.
Next 7 October 19 million Venezuelans are entitled to vote for a president for the next six years, 2013/2019, among six hopefuls of which Chavez, 58 and Capriles, 40, are clearly leading the dispute.
However pollsters diverged sharply over whether President Chavez will win re-election on October 7 or lose to Capriles in an increasingly close election.
Most of the country's best-known polls show Chávez ahead, but Capriles' poll numbers have been creeping up in the closing days of the campaign. Polls in Venezuela are notoriously controversial and public opinion has shifted quickly.
A survey by respected firm Consultores 21 made public on Wednesday showed Capriles with a slim lead of 0.8 percentage point over Chávez, although this was within the margin of error and similar to the firm's poll a month earlier.
Consultores 21 said 46.5% would vote for Capriles compared with 45.7% for Chávez.
But public opinion firm Hinterlaces released a survey on Wednesday showing 50% of voters backing Chávez with 34% voting for Capriles, although Chávez's 16 percentage point lead was close to the percentage of undecided voters.
Another polling company, Consultores 30.11, released a survey showing Chávez with a lead of almost 20 points over his younger rival. That poll showed 57.2% backing Chávez and 37.5% voting for Capriles.
Suggested Stories
-
Jun 17th 2013
Latinamerica and Mercosur, priorities of Brazil foreign policy ratifies Rousseff
-
Jun 17th 2013
Paraguay president-elect will not be attending Mercosur summit in Montevideo
-
Jun 16th 2013
”Venezuela is not part of Mercosur; it was not ratified by Paraguayan congress”
-
Jun 20th 2013
Cristina Fernandez admits defeat to the Supreme Court but promises to fight on
20 comments Feed
Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.
There is no democracy left in Venezuela.
*nationalizing thousands of companies, Hugo has been able to take the financial power away from the oposition.
*Surpressing the media is another clear sign of a dictator (USA and UK are going this route as well).
*Dissolving other branches of the government to put your own people in
*changing the constitution to allow indefinite elections
If it was a radical right dictator, trust me I would be criticizing them as well. There are no good dictators. FDR was a dictator; he died in office after starting his 4th term! These are bad bad people. Common BK, there has got to be something in that brain of yours that says, “Wait a minute, these are bad people, they are using me, they are rich.” I only ask you to question your own beliefs. Read up on a few things and see maybe you are being blind to the world.
also remember 1992 anti-democratic attempted coups, led by Chavez
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Venezuelan_coup_d'%C3%A9tat_attempts
Supposedly, respecting democracy is not just an ideological point a view.
Lol
*He used social programs (the New Deal) to “buy” his votes, thus winning 3 elections.
*During 1937 he attempted to add up to 6 Supreme Court justices so that he could rule as he pleased.
Yes I would consider him a dictator, no different than Hugo, CFK, Evo, Putin, Castro, Mugabe, etc.
Two Venezuelan opposition activists shot dead-Buenos Aires Herald 9/29/12
Gunmen shot and killed two local leaders of parties backing presidential challenger Henrique Capriles today in the worst violence of a volatile campaign before Venezuela's election next weekend, the opposition said.
Capriles' party, Primero Justicia (First Justice), said the gunmen fired from a van that witnesses identified as belonging to state oil company PDVSA or the local mayor's office during a rally in the agricultural state of Barinas.
The government of President Hugo Chavez, who is seeking re-election, confirmed the deaths and vowed the perpetrators would be brought to justice. Interior Minister Tareck El Aissami said the circumstances of the attack were still under investigation.
Venezuela is awash with guns, and violent crime is frequently cited as voters' No. 1 concern.
There had been shootings and fistfights in previous opposition rallies as “Chavistas” and Capriles' supporters clashed, but no deaths.
“This tragedy gives us more strength and faith to fight for a Venezuela where justice and non-violence reign,” Primero Justicia said in a statement. One of the victims was from its party and another from Accion Democratica (Democratic Action).
Another two people were injured, and there were six arrests after the attack on an opposition motorcade that had been blocked by Chavez supporters, Primero Justicia said in an account not confirmed by police or other authorities.
On the campaign trail, Chavez showed off new infrastructure projects in Caracas, while Capriles accused him of wasting Venezuela's money on foreign allies.
*FDR created concentration camps for the AMERICAN CITIZENS of japanese descent; this is in clear violation of the USA constitution.
concentration camps???
lol
wtf you talking about?
BK I expected nothing less from you. You show the blindness of your colors.
Just Google Japanese concentration camps and you will be able to read all about it. They were called relocation camps but regardless of the name, these were prisons and the captives were never given any trial as is mandatory by the USA constitution under the Bill of Rights. When a government violates its own constitution for whatever reason it may be, then you are becoming a totalitarian state, which the USA did become during FDR's reign.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment
*He used social programs (the New Deal) to “buy” his votes, thus winning 3 elections
Since when did government spending become “buying votes”? We must still be buying votes as we still spend on social programs.
*During 1937 he attempted to add up to 6 Supreme Court justices so that he could rule as he pleased.
Regardlerss what he may have tried, it was the systems of democracy that caused it to fail. You are aware it was denied?
You should go back into the tree from that paricular area of the jungle you climbed out of. Here.....here's a banana. Half a piece of information is more dangerous than no information at all.
FYI:
Quoting wikipedia is like reading comic books and referring to oneself as a literary sponge.
I stand corrected on habeas corpus; the constitution does permit the suspension during war time/rebellion. I guess we couldn't expect that the founding fathers couldn't get everything correct.
When the government creates populist programs like free cell phones to the poor, this has the exact same effect as going out and buying votes. People become dependent on the government and thus the government controls their vote. It is a classic move by populist governments and can easily lead to the ruling party having total power, thus a dictatorship. I believe that FDR reached this point. He was able to rule for so many years because he controlled so much of the economy through the New Deal social programs.
FYI:
Personal attacks only make your arguments seem infantile and pointless.
Since when did government spending become “buying votes”? We must still be buying votes as we still spend on social programs”
I agree Poppy, well said. The same argument applies to Chavez and Cristina's social programmes of course =)
Ignorance on your part. In most of Latin America, the use of soldiers and sailors to guard polling places is an accepted method of safeguarding polling places form disruption(especially from would be saboteurs and interventionists often voiced in this forum in the name of “democracy” and “colonialism”). There are not enough police to cover every polling palce and the defense forces are placed under civil authority to assist. It is an accepted and expected practice by all parties involved.
Keeeep Learning
The use of the armed forces says it all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the UK we have one unarmed policeman !
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!