The silence of the regime suggests that Havana considers that in the process in which Nicolás Maduro sought reelection he lost
14ymedio, Havana, 28 July 2024 — Judging by the official Cuban press, Nicolás Maduro is going to lose the presidential elections in Venezuela. A sober headline dedicated to the 70th birthday of Hugo Chávez, a brief note on the opening of the polling stations in that South American country and several unfavorable comments, permitted, indicate that Havana considers the process lost.
The morning began in a subdued manner in the media controlled by the Cuban Communist Party. In addition to the traditional local anniversaries and the echoes of the July 26th event, the only thing that was added in the first few hours was a reminder of Hugo Chávez’s birthday. But as the morning progressed, the pressure of reality changed the editorial trend of the main news headlines. While Granma remained unmoved, clinging to its tradition of not publishing on Sundays, Cubadebate dared to narrate, on a delay, the electoral process.
Far from the front page, after four in the afternoon Havana time, the news item given by Cubadebate was still headlined with the phrase “Presidential elections begin in Venezuela: Maduro exercises his right to vote.” Concise, with the numbers from Miraflores and with few updates, the brief text was not updated for hours but, surprisingly, the strict moderators allowed the occasional wink in the comments section.
Several unfavorable comments, permitted, indicate that Havana considers the process lost
Further down in the article, it was stated: “The prestigious pollster Lewis & Thompson, in its midday report, declared Nicolás Maduro Moros the winner of the presidential election by 55% to Edmundo González’s 34%, with Antonio Ecarri in third place.” But the data did not seem to influence the opinion of readers too much, who, overcoming their suspicions about commenting in an official Cuban media outlet, let their doubts slip.
While the official article was absolutely in line with Maduro’s wishes, the majority of Internet users went the other way. Sometimes peppered with irony and sometimes directly. “I had no idea of the love that the people have for Maduro… it is incalculable… Now I realize everything,” mocked one commentator, while another raised the stakes: “Fortunately, we have a truthful and unbiased news outlet. Cubadebate, which informs us that the Venezuelan people love Maduro and will liquidate these puppets of the empire to bring peace and prosperity,” another noted sarcastically.
Without live images, and with great care in everything that is published, the coverage of the Venezuelan elections is reminiscent of that of the official Cuban press in other elections that went unfavorably for the Plaza de la Revolución. The most famous, without a doubt, was in Nicaragua with the defeat of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in February 1990. Hidden in the national media of the Island, it had to be recognized when the international headlines warned of the revolutionary debacle and the excesses of the piñata reached the Island.
But there are many other examples, from the coverage of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 in Germany, behind the media curtain of Havana, to the rewriting of events such as the Tiananmen Square protests in China that same year. Whenever possible, Cuban official propaganda delays news that is not favorable to it and glosses over results that are adverse to its interests.
Hiding what is happening this Sunday in Venezuela is becoming difficult. The streets of Caracas have filled with opposition supporters willing to vote regardless of the obstacles imposed by the Chavista regime. Their enthusiasm is so great that while they line up outside the schools that were converted into voting centers this Sunday, they sing their national anthem as a sign of victory over the Maduro government.
Maria Corina Machado says there is an ‘apocalyptic’ participation in the elections
The number of people who have gone out to vote in Venezuela is so large that the main opposition leader, María Corina Machado, celebrated the “apocalyptic turnout” that has been recorded so far, during the election day to choose the president for the 2025-2031 period. She stressed that, according to her own figures, by 1:00 p.m. local time, the turnout had reached 42.1%. “It’s wonderful, what is happening is very beautiful,” she stressed.
Interviewed by the media outside the Elena de Bueno school in Caracas, where she went to vote this afternoon, Machado explained that in her opinion, during this election, Venezuelans are “realizing a dream and a struggle for freedom, redemption and reunion.” She stressed that “as things are going,” in reference to the large voter turnout, the National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela will announce “irreversible” results “very early.”
“What we are seeing is the most important civic act in the contemporary history of Venezuela. Venezuelans have gone out (to vote) in a massive, organized way, as a family, and they have surprised us (…) Today Venezuela is united, we have been for many years, in the faith that we would be free. Today it is a certainty, we will be free, we will bring our children back home. We will unite this country and we will have achieved the most important civic and liberating day in the history of our country,” she said.
She pointed out that in some polling stations the Chavista regime, headed by Maduro, who is seeking re-election after 11 years in power, has tried to impose a “directed” slowdown procedure. This is after a protocol was incorporated that was not originally contemplated in the electoral process, which is the scanning of the ID cards of the population that arrives at the polling stations. “People are not going to leave until they can vote,” she stressed.
Asked about some of the acts of violence that occurred during the day, she explained that the opposition election witnesses who are in charge of ensuring the hygiene of the electoral process reported incidents at 1,300 of the 30,020 polling places, where there were even “injuries.” In this regard, she highlighted the bravery of these volunteers, whom she called the “heroes of this process,” and stressed that in the face of adversity, “they fought hard, with the polling manual in hand.”
Finally, she denied that she had had any contact with the country’s high military command and made a special appeal to the Bolivarian National Armed Forces, asking them to experience the election day “with their eyes open” and to understand that they are all “one Venezuela.”
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