The prognosis was fulfilled. Former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles has swept today in the election held among the bases of his party, Primero Justicia (PJ), which clears his way to become the standard bearer of this center-right party ahead of the opposition primaries in October. The former governor triumphed in 17 states of the country with 76% of the votes, while his rivals were satisfied with the five states obtained by former legislative vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa and the only one reached by former mayor Carlos Ocariz.
"Today we ratify our cause to build the country of progress that we deserve to be. Today it was reflected once again that the project, the motivation and the cause of PJ is Venezuela. We have a vision of a country that goes far beyond candidacies," he celebrated. the winner of the consultation carried out in the 23 regional political committees of the party. This vote is not binding, since it must be corroborated by consensus in the party's steering committee, which will also take into account the polls carried out in Venezuela.
Polls that also widely favor Capriles: in the last one carried out by Delphos, the rival of Hugo Chávez in 2012 and Nicolás Maduro in 2013, reached 17% support, compared to 4% for Ocariz. In other surveys, such as the one carried out by Datanálisis, Capriles' advantage remains, even increases.
"I feel proud to belong to PJ. We are a party that makes history. Today we begin a process and very soon we will have a righteous candidate who will change the reality of this country," said Ocariz, who only triumphed in Isla Margarita, after knowing his wide defeat.
The majority feeling within the party is that Ocariz and Guanipa should decline in the next few hours so that next week the process will be terminated, according to EL MUNDO in political sources.
"Together we are stronger, we continue!" added Capriles, who starts at a disadvantage compared to other presidential candidates of an opposition that today garners almost as many detractors in the country as the revolution. The main strength of the ex-governor, who has opted for moderation in his fight against Chavismo, is his experience in the two presidential elections and how well known he is at the national level.
But his main defect lies in his virtue: his attitude after the "fraud" of 2013, when he assured that he wanted to avoid a civil war and decided not to fight in the streets, caused the disappointment of a large part of his electorate. Capriles also served as the main instigator to force the disappearance of the presidency in charge.
At the head of the squad of candidates has been the right-wing María Corina Machado thanks to the fact that her constant fights with the rest of anti-Chavismo portray her as anti-establishment. In the same Delphos poll she has gathered 37% of support.
Another one that stands out is the outsider Benjamín Rausseo, a famous comedian known as El Conde del Guácharo, who is already in the campaign. Imminent is the presentation of the former interim president, Juan Guaidó, as the candidate of Voluntad Popular (VP), who currently has 9% of the support.
Both Guaidó and Capriles are going to participate in the October primaries despite the fact that both are disabled by Chavismo.
The fifth in contention in this group of main candidates is the Social Christian governor Manuel Rosales, leader of Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT).
The objective of all of them is to become the rival of Nicolás Maduro for the 2024 presidential elections.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
