Foreign Forces Seek to Interfere in Venezuelan Presidential Elections
March in support of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, 2024.
July 24, 2024 Hour: 12:28 pm
Since the far-right opposition will not get enough votes, it wants to win the elections with bots, Legislator Rodriguez said.
Over the past week, Jorge Rodriguez, the coordinator of the Our Venezuela campaign, has repeatedly claimed that the far-right opposition is setting the stage to reject the results of the Venezuelan presidential elections scheduled for Sunday, July 28.
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This strategy aims to proclaim the supposed victory of the presidential candidate of the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD), who is being supported by the extremist organization Vente Venezuela.
“Without votes, they want to win the elections with bots,” Rodriguez said, explaining that far-right activists seek to manipulate public opinion through social media and digital platforms.
The campaign chief of the Great Patriotic Pole also denounced that the destabilization strategy includes the early publication of exit polls, which are not permitted in Venezuela.
Subsequently, far-right politicians will launch unfounded accusations of electoral fraud to delegitimize the official results to be issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
Recently, this strategy was evidenced in statements by PUD spokesperson Biagio Pilieri, who admitted that his organization will only recognize the votes counted in records of its own creation.
Foreign interference in the presidential elections could even involve companies controlled by Elon Musk. Using social media, far-right activists have publicly requested that the STARLINK service be made freely available in Venezuela, citing possible Internet usage restrictions during the elections.
Venezuelan Anti-Blockade Policies Vice Minister William Castillo denounced that the media operation orchestrated from abroad includes introducing STARLINK antennas just before the elections. “Several thousand antennas are ready at customs to enter the country and be distributed and installed. This would allow those people to connect on election day,” he said.
Warnings about potential foreign interference date back to April, when Elon Musk was involved in a controversy after an exchange of opinions with far-right politician Maria Corina Machado. On that occasion, he made comments about Venezuela’s “wealth in natural resources” and criticized the policies of the late President Hugo Chavez. This was perceived as taking a stance in the local political landscape.
The Venezuelan government has also repeatedly expressed concern about the role of digital platforms in spreading what they consider manipulated information about the country’s situation. This concern has intensified recently with the offer from ProtonVPN to provide free VPN servers in Venezuela.
“We made free ProtonVPN servers available in Venezuela ahead of the country’s election on July 28th. We want to ensure everyone has free and unrestricted access to information and prevent any potential attempts of interference or misinformation campaign,” this Swiss company said.
The analytical outlet La Tabla expressed distrust of this offer and questioned the intentions behind the ProtonVPN initiative. “It is suspicious that a company offers free services with the argument that it is a defender of democracy and freedom of expression,” the Venezuelan outlet said, adding that the free use of VPNs could be part of a strategy to spread “key messages” on voting day.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has also reiterated his claims about what he describes as a disinformation campaign orchestrated from abroad against his country.
“Although we are a reality, they have tried to make us invisible a thousand times. Now the operation is led by hitmen of lies,” he said, referring to international news agencies such as EFE, AFP, AP, and CNN.
Autor: teleSUR/ JF
Fuente: teleSUR
