In Venezuela, it has been a long time since elections have been free and fair. In this latest episode, Hugo Chávez threatens the electoral chief Vicente Díaz -the only member of a five-person board who isn’t openly pro-Chávez- stating that he reserves the right to take action regarding his position on the matter. The director of the National Electoral Council, Tibisay Lucena, a staunch Chávez supporter, instead of backing Díaz’s attempt to make the leader respect the law, attacked him, claiming that Díaz’s complaints were nothing more than an “indefinite media spectacle.”
Board member Díaz has recently shown videos of Hugo Chávez violating legislation (art. 215 of LOSPP not defined) that prohibits officials from actively participating in electoral campaigns, to which the coup leader responded, “no one is going to stop me” from campaigning.