Elections in Barinas, Venezuela: What You Need to Know

Superlano: Diosdado Cabello could not beat the results in Barinas 1:14

(CNN Spanish) -

Voters in Barinas are called to vote again on Sunday, January 9, after two rulings by the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (TSJ) ordered the annulment of the previous process and repeat the elections held on the 21st November in the homeland of Hugo Chávez, to elect the new governor of the entity.

How did you get here?

Through its Electoral Chamber, the Judiciary ordered the National Electoral Council on November 29, eight days after the election, to call new elections in that state because the candidate who had the advantage in the closed count, the opponent Freddy Superlano, would be disqualified from holding public office.

Previously, the Supreme Court had ordered the suspension of the totalization, adjudication and proclamation process in said entity.

Said pronouncement arose in response to an action brought by Deputy Adolfo Superlano, who later ran as a candidate for the elections this Sunday.

In a few hours, the CNE responded by formalizing the call for repetition ordered by a court that, according to the opposition, is made up almost entirely of pro-government magistrates.

The decision was questioned by two rectors of the Electoral Power, Roberto Picón and Enrique Márquez, who identify with the opposition and spoke through statements to express their disagreement on the grounds that “the powers of the CNE were usurped when calling an election for the 9th of January ”and the will of the citizens.

advertising

The figures obtained by the opposition in Barinas

According to the ruling of the country's highest court, which cited figures from the Electoral Power, the opposition candidate had obtained 37.60% compared to 37.21% obtained by the candidate of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, the ruling party. Prior to the court decision, Superlano had obtained victory over Argenis Chávez, brother of the late Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, whose family has been in command of that entity for more than 20 years. Argenis Chávez resigned his candidacy and the position, assuring, among other things, that elections cannot be won when there are management failures. In this sense, he referred to the permanent failures in public services that fueled citizen discontent.

Meanwhile, Freddy Superlano, a former opposition deputy (2016-2021), belongs to the Voluntad Popular party led by Leopoldo López and had received a presidential pardon on August 31, 2020. CNN contacted the Comptroller General of the Republic to find out details about the reasons for that disqualification without having received a response so far.

Despite having the same last name, Freddy and Adolfo Superlano are not related.

Who is running for office now?

For this new electoral process, the ruling party nominated Jorge Arreaza, ex-husband of Rosa Virginia Chávez, one of Hugo Chávez's daughters and who until recently held positions in the Executive Branch as Chancellor and Minister of Industry.

Since the announcement of his candidacy, he left the capital of the country, to start touring Barinas.

Sergio Garrido was nominated from the opposition, elected that November 21 as a deputy before the Legislative Council, positioning himself as the most voted by the opposition.

Surprisingly, in a matter of days he had to prepare for a new campaign to aspire to the Governor of his native state, representing the opposition alliance, which is called the Democratic Unity Table and which brings together the main opposition parties.

He does not run alone in that contest, since at least five opposition candidates will also participate, although on behalf of minority parties.

Superlano's wife was also disbarred

The first name to be proposed to assume the candidacy of the Democratic Unity Table was that of Aurora de Superlano, wife of the former Popular Will candidate, but the opposition leaders themselves reported a few days later that she had been disqualified despite not having have previously held public office.

A similar situation occurred when the name of former deputy Julio César Reyes was used as an option.

CNN contacted the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic to verify the information. However, at the moment we have not received a response.

Barinas, bastion of Chavismo

Mural in Sabaneta, Hugo Chávez's hometown.

Credit: FEDERICO PARRA / AFP via Getty Images

Barinas is a plains state located in western Venezuela, considered a stronghold of Chavismo.

In the regional elections of November 21, 2021, it was one of the disputed territories, but the controversy made it a point of honor for the ruling party that seeks to maintain power and a trophy for the opposition that hopes to ratify the trend. that Superlano scored.

Barinas becomes the center of electoral action this Sunday under special measures after an electoral campaign that took place between December 22 and January 6.

How to vote this Sunday

The polls will be open from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm in the 543 voting centers and 961 tables enabled in the entity.

Through his social networks, the rector of the CNE, Roberto Picón, explained that transformers and power plants were installed, as well as satellite antennas to increase the data transmission capacity, among other measures aimed at responding in case of contingency.

Picón also recalls that regarding the Republic Plan "there has been an emphasis on respecting the protocol, in terms of specific responsibilities, limited to the security of the electoral event and the logistics of the deployment and withdrawal of electoral material."

For her part, the director of the non-governmental organization Control Ciudadano, Rocío San Miguel, reported that this Sunday “Barinas will have 6 times the average number of security personnel assigned by Federal entity to guard electoral processes in Venezuela, within the framework of the Republic plan ”.

They will have an average of 44 security officers for each voting center, for a total of 24,000 officers.

Jorge Arreaza