Letter to Kerry from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America - Recognize Maduro
Letter to Kerry: Follow the Lead of Latin American Governments and Recognize Maduro as Venezuela's New President
by the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America
April 18, 2013
John F. Kerry, Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
VIA FAX: 202-647-3344
Dear Secretary Kerry,
On behalf of the officers and members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE), we are writing to urge you to recognize the election of Nicolas Maduro Moros and to take steps to engage productively with the new government of Venezuela.
Our International Affairs Director participated in monitoring the recent election. In doing so, she joined a delegation of over 130 international participants that included parliamentarians, former presidents, electoral commission members, journalists, and representatives of human rights NGOs from across the world.
The monitors spent the day of the election in various states around the country. They were free to speak to voters, election officials and political party representatives and reported calm throughout the day, an efficient process, and virtually no problems. They were impressed both by the level of democratic participation and by the sophisticated and secure electronic system confirmed by an audit of 54% of the paper ballots. Unlike the system here in the United States, which is neither uniform nor trustworthy, the voting system in Venezuela is a unitary system that incorporates some 15 audits and is approved by the competing political parties at each step. Because the Venezuelan electoral commission or CNE has been the subject of intense criticism by the opposition, we wish to review in some detail the nature of the voting process.
Prior to the election, machines are sent out from the assembly and service plant in Caracas. They are set up and tested to make sure everything functions properly. The morning of the election, each machine is once again put through its paces and, with the poll workers, party witnesses and soldiers present, it is unlocked with a code and generates a tape that indicates that no votes have yet been registered. For the rest of the day, voters follow a horseshoe shaped process: showing their credentials, then placing their finger in the fingerprint reader to generate their ID number and photo. This unlocks the voting machine, permitting the voter to continue on to the voting machine and press the picture of the candidate and party of his or her choice and then the vote key. The machine then issues a paper receipt with the name of the candidate, permitting the voter to double check that his or her vote was properly recorded. The voter places the folded receipt in a traditional ballot box. The final steps are to dip one's pinky finger in indelible ink and to sign and place a fingerprint in the registry as a final backup check.
When the polls close, 54% of the paper ballots cast are checked manually against the final tally issued by the voting machines through a "citizens audit" of polling stations that have been randomly selected, in the presence of the party witnesses The CNE waits to make its announcement of the results until the outcome was certain. This is the system that has been recognized by Jimmy Carter as "the best in the world."
Whether the remaining 46% of the paper receipts (which serve as a confirmation of the electronic system) should be counted is a matter of policy for the CNE to determine. It should be remembered that even the CNE council representative who proposed that this measure be taken, did so in terms of "confirming" the results.
With a voter registration rate of over 95% and a turnout rate of 79.17%., Nicolas Maduro won the election with 50.75% of the vote (7,563,747 votes) to Henrique Capriles' 48.97% (7,298,491 votes). The margin of victory for Nicolas Maduro increased slightly once the complete numbers had been tallied and, while the margin is small, it is comparable to close elections in the U.S., such as the margins of victory for Kennedy in 1960 and for Bush in 2000 and 2004.
We call upon the U.S. to honor the Venezuelan election as the nations of the world have honored ours without question. It has been reported that "Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Uruguay have all sent official congratulations to Maduro for his victory. The Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) also recognized Maduro as Venezuela's new president. Brazil's foreign minister Antonio Patriota called the election a 'victory for democracy.' Beyond these statements, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Guatemala, and Mexico, all offered their congratulations to Maduro for his election as president." Most recently, Spain has recognized the election.
In April 2002, economic and military elites carried out a coup to overthrow the elected president. Hugo Chavez's enemies arrested him, forced him to resign, and declared the constitution abolished. Massive popular protests defeated the coup and returned Chavez to the presidency in just a few days. It is widely believed that the United States was deeply involved in the attempted coup.
The U.S. call for a full re-count fails to recognize the integrity of the Venezuelan electoral system and only serves to promote conflict and to further undermine the credibility of the United States. Given the sordid history of the United States in undermining democracy in Latin America, the wisest course would be to follow the lead of latin American governments that are demonstrating broad regional support for Venezuela's democratic institutions,
Sincerely,
Bruce J. Klipple President
Andrew Dinkelaker Secretary- Treasurer
Robert B. Kingsley Director of Organization
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2013/ue180413.html
Letter available here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/136775805/Venezuela-2013-April-Statement-by-UE-on-the-Election#download
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