Venezuelan regime refuses to hand over power in Barinas

The candidate of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) for the governorship of Barinas, Aldemaro Sanoja, became the fourth candidate to be disqualified by the regime of Nicolás Maduro on Tuesday.

Sanoja joins the list of disqualified candidates, along with Freddy Superlano, who allegedly won the governorship of Barinas on November 21, his wife Aurora Silva, and Julio César Reyes. All three candidates belong to the Democratic Unity Table (MUD for its name in Spanish).

At the moment of Silva's disqualification, the president of the Municipal Council of Barinas, Juan Pedro Crespo, denounced the action in his Twitter account and assured that "abandoning this space is not one of the proposals, even if we have to spend the next 24 hours putting in each one of our cards until (the National Electoral Council) accepts one of them, we will participate and defend what happened and what was elected on November 21."

Les comento MUY CLARA Y RESPONSABLEMENTE; abandonar este espacio NO ES UNA DE LAS PROPUESTAS, así tengamos que pasar las próximas 24 horas metiendo cédula x cédula de cada uno de nosotros hasta que acepte alguno, vamos a PARTICIPAR y a defender lo qué pasó y se eligió el #21N 🇻🇪

— Juan Pedro Crespo D’cesare (@JUANPCD) December 6, 2021

The PCV announced Sanoja's candidacy last Monday, introducing him as an "outstanding union fighter" with the objective of "building hope." However, the National Electoral Council (CNE) disqualified him despite belonging to a party that seeks to establish a socialist state. The PCV split in 2020 from the coalition Gran Polo Patriótico Simón Bolívar (GPPSB), which includes leftist parties such as the PSUV, created by the late Hugo Chávez in 2007.

On November 29, Venezuela's Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) ordered new elections for the governorship of Barinas, a state that Chavismo promised to protect as the birthplace of the late president.

Sanoja was going to compete against former Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza (PSUV) in the new elections in Barinas to be held on January 9, 2022, according to local media.

Un privilegio acompañar al Pueblo de mi amada Barinas hacia la recuperación plena de la esperanza. Cambiemos todo lo que deba ser cambiado para avanzar.
Tienen en mi un servidor dispuesto a escucharlos, a obedecerles y a trabajar por la ¡Unidad Revolucionaria!
¡Unid@s,Venceremos! pic.twitter.com/NgV5TW6jdh

— Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza) December 7, 2021

Sanoja's disqualification could be considered as "damage control," to prevent the pro-government candidate from losing votes from Chavistas dissatisfied with Maduro's regime.

On November 21, the CNE handed the victory to PSUV candidate Argenis Chávez, brother of Hugo Chávez and former Governor of Barinas, over his opposition rival Freddy Superlano. The victory was called when there was still less than one percent difference and about 10% of the voting tally sheets were yet to be totaled. In the final results, CNE President Pedro Calzadilla avoided mentioning the winner in the state of Barinas.

Chavismo has refused to hand over state power since Chávez has become popular in that region. The late president's father, Hugo de los Reyes Chávez, was governor of the state from 1998 to 2008; he was followed by his brother Adán Chávez Frías from 2008 to 2016, and continued with Argenis Chávez since 2017.