How does Chavismo’s electoral machinery work according to experts?

Chavismo’s government model has been based on a formula that seems like a public policy, but that ends up fueling its electoral machinery and control over its supporters for the July presidential vote in Venezuela, experts explained to the Voice of America.

On May 20, 2022, President Nicolás Maduro inaugurated a new program of his executive branch known as “the 1×10 of good government”, with which he sought to “renew the connection and interaction” with Venezuelans and administer the State more efficiently. , according to their public speeches and publications of their ministries and agencies.

The “1×10” is based on an interactive network that includes the personal data of people in all regions of the country to solve their problems in sectors and services such as water, health, education, gas, electricity, infrastructure. and telecommunications.

To obtain responses from official institutions through the “1×10”, the applicant must register and present their request on digital platforms, such as the Sistema Patria and the VenApp application.

This May, Maduro celebrated that there were 4 million “resolved cases” through this management formula. Most of the complaints were related to the water service and governorates, mayors and ministries had been key in the model, he said.

The effectiveness of the ruling party’s “response” to these cases was 80%, he explained, but the head of state set a goal for his collaborators that this rate of requests answered would rise to 95% in July, that is, on the eve of the presidential election, which is scheduled for Sunday the 28th.

While the president affirms that his model is successful and has helped him eliminate bureaucracy and corruption, specialists warn about its political and electoral reach with the use of State resources.

State resources for political purposes

The “1×10” allows the Venezuelan government to have resources from the State, its means of transportation, its social programs and even from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) for electoral purposes, he assured the Voice of America the political scientist Luis Salamanca.

“The 1×10 has already been assumed by the government as a public policy and is electoral,” he said, warning of the “adverse conditions” in the vote for anti-Chavismo, such as the difficulties in registering a candidacy supported by all opposition parties in time. and the uncertainty of his suspension before the July vote.

For political scientist Jesús Castellanos, a specialist in electoral affairs, the “1×10” does not constitute a public policy in itself, but rather an “organization mechanism” to mobilize the vote in favor of the Maduro government.

Coincidentally, the governing party’s militancy organization model was baptized as “1×10” years ago and Chavismo has used it to win elections such as the November 2021 regional elections.

Politically, it is based on the commitment of each militant to capture 10 votes in favor of the so-called Bolivarian revolution.

Diosdado Cabello, first vice president of the PSUV, has demanded that the “1×10” structure of that organization be “verifiable and auditable.” Maduro, for his part, estimated on Sunday that this formula will allow him to “win by knockout” on July 28, calling it “the most organized, disciplined, motivated and most powerful” electoral machine of Chavismo.

The government “plays to give that name to other government actions, disguising them, when in reality they constitute a mechanism of political-electoral mobilization,” said Castellanos, for his part.

The multiplication of supporters of a political cause is not exclusive to the PSUV or Chavismo, but has been a model adopted by different governments and countries over the years, explained political science doctor Daniel Varnagy.

They are formulas known academically as “escalation methods” of a “populist” nature, he said. Venezuela has a political culture traditionally marked by the paternalism of the State, the “petitionism” of the people and populism, she stressed.

“Through a base scheme or system of multiplication of followers, there is the promise of a counterpart in spices. “It is one more way of carrying out a populist formula to obtain a benefit: those who do not subscribe will not have it,” she stated to the VOA.

In the case of Chavismo, these “spices” used to be foods at preferential prices known as CLAP boxes, whose logistics are orchestrated by the communal councils, Varnagy indicated.

Now, the gain of joining the “1×10” is having access to efficient public services. “It’s not a new invention. In this case, the aim is to ensure that the voter attends the presidential election in a controlled manner. We have experienced it in other elections where one person has to lead 5, in the times of former President Chávez,” he noted.

The objective is electoral

Castellanos, for his part, highlighted that Chavismo has channeled several of its programs with the same name of “1×10” used by the governing party, whose use of public resources in favor of its electoral interests has been “rude,” he warned.

“They are part of the same set. For the Maduro government, the ‘1×10’ is essential, because it allows it to have a clearer approach with those who support it or at least with those who are willing to vote for it or who at least say that,” he told the VOA.

Varnagy, for his part, insisted that the “1×10” showed from its beginnings that “it was really a multiplier scheme for the political” and its approach consisted of “a certain form of proselytism” that, at that time, had no purpose. upcoming election.

Now, with a decisive election for the continuity of Chavismo around the corner, the case is different and the government seeks to “recover” its fall in popular preference in recent years, he noted.

According to most surveys, President Maduro barely has a 20% positive rating for his administration and the intention to vote in his favor ranges between 20 and 30 points. Edmundo González Urrutia, from the opposition Unitary Platform, leads those polls with more than 50%.

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