Speaking on his weekly program Alo Presidente on August 3, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced important steps towards unity of pro-revolution parties in the lead-up to the November 23 regional elections.
The parties that make up the Patriotic Alliance reached consensus on united support for 11 out of the 23 candidates to contest governorships, with only one party not supporting a further four, along with a large number of mayors. It is expected that more united candidates will be agreed upon over the next week.
Discussion also advanced on presenting unifed slates for state legislative assemblies comprised of candidates from the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), of which Chavez is the president, and the Fatherland for All (PPT), the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV), the Electoral Movement of the People (MEP), the United Party of Venezuela (UPV), the Youth Party (PJ) and smaller regional parties.
In all, over 600 positions will be up for election.
In those areas where unity cannot be reached, Chavez said that all the candidates would run their campaigns, but that if the polls showed that one candidate was clearly leading he hoped the others would stand down and support that candidate.
Formally founded in March this year, 5.7 million people enrolled to become members of the PSUV last year after Chavez called for the construction of a united party of the revolution. Since then, internal elections have occurred for the national and regional leaderships as well as for candidates for the November 23 elections.
On June 1, close to 2.5 million participated in the election of candidates for governors and mayors — an unprecedented democratic move in Venezuela.
The right-wing US-backed opposition has also made some advances in presenting united candidates.
While few doubt that Chavista forces will again win the overwhelming majority of governors and mayors, the opposition has sensed the chance of winning a few strategic states, from which Chavez has warned they would work towards overthrowing his government.
The problem for the opposition is that it is exactly these places where unity has been the hardest to achieve amid the squabble for positions.
The opposition came out strongly against the August 5 and 6 verdict by the Supreme Court to ratify the comptroller-general's ruling to temporarily disqualify nearly 300 opposition and pro-Chavez Venezuelans accused of corruption from holding public office.
The opposition claims the list of candidates is politically motivated, while the government, pointing to the larger number of non-opposition figures on the list, argues it is part of the campaign to tackle corruption.
Urging further unity of the revolutionary forces, Chavez stated on August 2 that an internal ideological and political debate should be opened up among the different parties, adding that there needs to be a public united face.
He also insisted on the need to strengthen alliances with those forces not active in any political party, such as youth groups, women's organisations and social movements. Speaking in the industrial state of Bolivar, he called on current governor and PSUV candidate Francisco Rangel Gomez to work on integrating revolutionary workers into the alliances.
However, on August 1, a new Socialist Central of Workers was launched, making official the split in the pro-revolution National Union of Workers (UNT) since its failed second congress in 2006. The Bolivarian Socialist Force of Workers current, along with a small current headed by public sector union leader Franklin Rondon, were behind this move.
The majority of the currents in the UNT continue to work to overcome the divisions that have plagued it and work towards a new congress for September, to be followed by elections.