The opposition primary is the biggest democratic event in a decade and Capriles has only existed in the periphery of it, never feeling comfortable enough to make a big push for the lead. It seems as though he decided, long ago, to wait and see if party leaders found Machado unelectable and thus rallied around him instead. It’s now less than two weeks until the primary and that moment hasn’t arrived; Capriles has dropped out. This is a big moment for people like him and other members of the old guard like Manuel Rosales and Leopoldo López. I don’t doubt for a minute that they’ll jump at a presidential run in the future (even in the near future), but times have indeed slipped away from them. B. y Luis González Morales. Full Text -> CaracasChronicles

The true story” ten years after the 2013 presidential elections. The documentary shows Capriles’ experience with the election “stolen” by the Chavismo.

April 14, 2023 marked the 10th anniversary of the presidential elections in Venezuela that brought Nicolas Maduro into power. The election took place six months after Hugo Chávez won but passed away, allegedly in March 2013. In a national address, Chavez designated Maduro as his successor due to health issues, ordering the chavismo to elect him as the next President. The Electoral Council acted promptly, announcing elections within four days after Chavez’s death, following which Maduro emerged victorious in April 2013 as the new President of Venezuela.

An illegal presidency

 Before the elections, Maduro was sworn in as interim president a few hours after Chavez’s funeral. The opposition did not attend the ceremony, claiming it was unconstitutional. Capriles, the opposition leader at the time, warned that it was “spurious” and cited the constitution.

Actually, Nicolás Maduro did not fulfill the requirements to run for president established in Article 227 of the Constitution. However, the Supreme Court ruled and interpreted the constitution to allow Maduro’s swearing-in as interim president.

But this decision was in contradiction to Article 229 of the same Constitution. The Continuity of Administration principle was applied by the Supreme Court to allow Maduro to take over from Hugo Chávez without fulfilling the necessary constitutional, legal, and procedural requirements for such an executive position.

Enabled him to participate in the Venezuelan presidential elections, had created since then a spurious presidency Venezuela.

Did Maduro lost this election?

In the 2013 presidential campaign in Venezuela, the official government command used the slogan “Chávez, te lo juro, mi voto es por Maduro”(Chávez, I swear to you, my vote is for Maduro”) to resonate with sympathizers of the deceased President and garner support for the continuation of the ‘process’. The campaign between Maduro and Capriles was marked by insults and accusations.

After a long and tense election day, Tibisay Lucena from the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced that Maduro had won with 50.66% of the votes.  Minutes after the official announcement, Capriles demanded a detailed review of the electoral process from the CNE. He claimed that there were irregularities such as closures of borders, intimidation by groups, and affected votes. He stated that these problems made this election different from others.

Capriles called for a review.

Capriles demanded a recount of votes after the Venezuelan election results in 2013 were announced.

The recount was not fully completed, and it was subsequently discovered that 535,000 voting machines had been damaged, which affected about 189,982 votes. It was also alleged that in 1,176 centers Maduro received more votes than Hugo Chávez in 2012, and denounced the forced removal of election observers from 286 centers. Other instances of irregularity included vote-assistance in 564 centers and over 600,000 deceased voters in the electoral register. In total, the detected irregularities would have affected more than 1,479,774 votes.

The heads of state of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) held a private two-hour meeting. Maduro left the meeting with a smile and thanked the block’s leaders and raised his left fist in appreciation of their declaration of consensus. The agreement called for dialogue and tolerance.It concluded with a message of support for Maduro as the successor of deceased ex-president Hugo Chavez.

Did Capriles call for actions?

Capriles called for a cacerolazo, a type of protest in which people bang pots and pans, in response to Nicolas Maduro’s controversial presidential victory 13. Maduro retorted with a call for his supporters to use fireworks as a form of counter-protest. The opposition resumed the cacerolazo the next day.

This tension led to violence, including accusations of burned political offices, intimidation, and physical attacks. In turn, local police were placed under the jurisdiction of the Venezuelan military, and the entire incident resulted in the death of nine individuals.

To this day, Capriles is singled out for not having called for a street mobilization to claim victory. His decision not to call the people to the streets to defend his victory has reduced his leadership in the opposition.

He argues that calling a demonstration that day, would have caused many deaths and that he did not want that in his conscience.

En rueda de prensa, el dirigente de Primero Justicia (PJ) dijo que hay un estado en el cual el abanderado opositor fuera del G4 triplica, en las encuestas, al candidato de la Unidad.  Enfatizó que las condiciones electorales deben pelearse hasta el final y, en tal sentido, señaló que antes del Referendo Revocatorio contra Nicolás Maduro, en 2022, debe pasarse por la alcabala de los venideros comicios. Texto completo-> TalCual

Courtesy translation-> At a press conference, the leader of Primero Justicia (PJ) said that there is a state in which the opposition champion outside the G4 triples, in the polls, the candidate of the Unit. He emphasized that the electoral conditions must be fought to the end and, in this sense, he pointed out that before the Recall Referendum against Nicolás Maduro, in 2022, it must go through the checkpont of the upcoming elections.

For years, the nation’s fractured opposition has been battling itself, not just authoritarian rule. Imprisoned by the dozens, disenfranchised by rigged elections and pushed into exile by Maduro, leaders also split on strategy and wrestled for prominence. Full Text -> BuenosAiresTimes

Not that long ago, Juan Guaido was hailed as the future of Venezuelan democracy, embraced by dozens of nations as the legitimate president over Nicolas Maduro. He had downtown offices and held weekly rallies with tens of thousands of supporters. Those days are gone. Maduro has survived beyond expectations, placing Guaido so on the defensive that he’s now fighting for leadership of the opposition against a veteran colleague, Henrique Capriles. In separate interviews, the two men discussed the acute dilemma now dividing their movement: whether and how to take part in upcoming local elections and negotiations with the government. By Patricia Laya, Alex Vasquez, and Erik Schatzker. Full Text -> Bloomberg

“In such difficult moments, it is urgent to start a new political stage that allows real solutions to the suffering of our people to be found. The union of all sectors of the country will help open paths to overcome the crisis,” Capriles wrote on a Twitter in which he disseminated the statement from the opposition platform.
This platform is made up of 40 organizations including the most traditional ones such as Primero Justicia (PJ), Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT), Voluntad Popular (VP) and Acción Democrática (AD). By OnVenezuela

So what is Capriles’ end-game? First and foremost, to change the opposition’s strategy from all-out conflict with the regime to the pursuit of incremental progress, especially on the electoral battlefield. Capriles can now show the public that he has fought for a democratic solution to the conflict and that he will continue to do so ahead of gubernatorial elections in 2021. By Félix Seijas Rodríguez. Full Text -> AmericanQuartely

The call by former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles came hours after the European Union made a similar plea, reiterating that it won’t send observers to Venezuela without postponing the vote and seeing a vast improvement in electoral conditions. “If it’s postponed, does that automatically mean there will be the right conditions?” Capriles said in an online broadcast. “No, but it allows for the possibility of an observation mission.” By Scott Smith. Full Text -> Taiwan News

The former presidential candidate stepped in, attempting to displace Guaidó as the leader of the opposition and reignite the electoral agenda. But he can’t escape the only road we have left to fight chavismo By Alfredo Herrera. Full Text-> Caracas Chronicles