Over August 9-11, almost all of the candidates of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) registered for the upcoming November 23 state and regional elections in the National Electoral Council (CNE) office, many accompanied by large marches of their supporters.
Although the electoral campaign of the PSUV (the mass party in support of the pro-poor Bolivarian revolution headed by President Hugo Chavez) hasn't officially started, the marches functioned as a show of strength and unity of Chavez supporters.
PSUV candidates were elected by the membership in a democratic process unprecedented in Venezuela, involving more than 2 million people.
The right-wing, US-backed opposition remains divided, finding it hard to agree on one joint candidate in many states.
In their speeches, PSUV candidates stressed unity and the need for community participation in local government policy.
In Carabobo, PSUV candidates Mario Silva and Edgardo Parra formalised their candidacies. An estimated 15,000 supporters in Carabobo's capital of Valencia marched to the CNE. Other left-wing groups that support the revolutionary process, such as the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and the Tupamaros, also joined the march and supported Silva.
Silva, who is a well-known talk show host on the state TV channel VTV, noted that Valencia hadn't seen such a mobilisation for a long time and added, "This large march filled the streets with revolutionary fervor and the oligarchy is scared of this".
Jesse Chacon, who has held several ministerial posts in the Chavez cabinet, registered his candidacy for mayor of Sucre, the eastern-most municipality of the capital Caracas.
In his speech to the march, he argued that the first steps of the campaign are in the street, constructing a program in the grassroots communal councils with clear solutions to the problems of water, transport, health, education, rubbish and citizen security.
"To govern Sucre, we don't need to wait until November, we're going to start from now ... only unity will maintain the validity of this revolutionary process", he said.
In the state of Merida, where the voting is likely to be very close, 15,000 supporters marched for four hours to the CNE office.
There were also contingents from many of the social missions and many PSUV branches from different suburbs had their own contingents. There was also a small contingent of the allied PPT (Homeland for All).
Following some demoralisation after last year's November constitutional reform referendum loss, and then disagreement over the city mayoral candidate, the march, in which organisers were expecting closer to 5000 participants, was a boost to morale.
The marches in Caracas also exceeded expectations. On August 10, accompanied by a large contingent, former vice-president Jorge Rodriguez and former education minister Aristobulo Isturiz registered as candidates for the capital's largest municipality, Libertador, and as mayor of greater Caracas, respectively.
Isturiz said to the crowd that his plan for government will be elaborated from a community analysis done in each of the municipalities of Caracas, where the suggestions of the citizens will be collected.
In the state of Anzoategui on August 9, 10,000 supporters accompanied the current governor, Tarek William Saab, who is running for reelection, and the 21 mayoral candidates.
In Guarico state, the candidate for governor for the Electoral Movement of the People (MEP), Eustoquio Contreras, announced on August 1 his resignation as candidate in favor of the PSUV candidate, former communications minister William Lara.
While Lara has the support of the PSUV, Venezuelan Popular Unity (UPV), PCV and the MEP, the PPT will maintain its support for Lenny Manuitt, the daughter of the former governor.
Marches showed the continuing support for Chavez, and also served as a preliminary comparison of strength, as the opposition in many cities had called marches for their own candidates on the same weekend.
On the whole, opposition marches were small. With just a few days left before the process of registration finishes, in many cases the opposition has yet to reach agreement.
[Abridged from http://venezuelanalysis.com.]