PSUV ANNOUNCES CANDIDATES IN CONTESTED

C O N F I D E N T I A L CARACAS 000789 SIPDIS HQSOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD DEPARTMENT PASS TO AID/OTI (RPORTER) E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2028 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM VE SUBJECT: PSUV ANNOUNCES CANDIDATES IN CONTESTED GUBERNATORIAL AND MAYORAL RACES REF: CARACAS 00758 Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBERT R. DOWNES FOR REASON 1.4 (D) ¶1. (SBU) President Chavez's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) announced June 5 its nominees for eight gubernatorial and eight mayoral races that failed to produce clear winners in its primary elections. Per party regulations, the PSUV party leadership selects the party's nominee in contests in which no candidate secured more than 50 percent of the vote or when the top vote-getter did not defeat the nearest competitor by at least 15 percent in the June 1 inter-party elections (Reftel). The newly-named nominees will compete in the November state and local elections on the PSUV ticket. -------------- And The Winners Are... -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Former Communications Minister William Lara was the most high-profile Chavista loyalist to make the cut. He will be the PSUV gubernatorial nominee in Guarico state. Current governor of Guarico, Eduardo Manuitt, referred to Lara as a "high risk" candidate and questioned the PSUV Directorate's insistence on Lara's candidacy, according to the local media. Manuitt's daughter was Lara's closest competitor. Meanwhile, incumbent Jesus Alberto Aguilaret Gamez will run for re-election in Apure state and Teodoro Benancio Bolivar Caballero will run on the PSUV ticket in Cojedes. In Nueva Esparta state William Ramon Farina is the nominee; Enrique Jose Maestre will run in Sucre state; and Leonardo Ali Salcedo Ramirez in Tachira. Hugo Cesar Cabezas Bracamonte is the party nominee in Trujillo state and Julio Cesar Leon Heredia will compete for Yaracuy. PSUV National Director and National Assembly President Cilia Flores also named party candidates in eight disputed mayoral races. ¶3. (C) Comment. The PSUV party leadership's quick turnaround time in making the results public could be an attempt to minimize the level of backlash these top-down decisions might produce. The media has already reported small protests outside PSUV offices in the interior of the country where members believe the party incorrectly rewarded loyalty to the "revolution" over votes garnered. The test for the PSUV in the coming months will be how well it can mobilize its base in the wake of hotly contested and controversial intra-party elections. End Comment. FRENCH