Nearly all of the 15 candidates elected to the executive committee of PSUV are familiar faces

Caracas Daily Journal (Jeremy Morgan): Nearly all of the 15 candidates elected to the executive committee or "directive" of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) are familiar faces, and those who aren't household names are already in the public domain. Also elected were the "alternates" or people who stand in for officials unable to carry out their tasks.

No unknowns from the grass roots made it to the top echelon – or at least not yet. President Hugo Chávez, who swears in the directives on Friday, is to appoint party vice presidents on top of the elected officials. How many has yet to be disclosed.

With 86 percent of the votes counted, it was all over but the shouting when preliminary votes were unveiled late Sunday. Former education minister Aristóbulo Istúriz, got the most votes despite hailing from minor coalition partner Patria Para Todos (PPT) rather than Chávez' Fifth Republic Movement (MVR).

Next came the president's brother, Higher Education Minister Adán Chávez, and then, unexpectedly, Mario Silva, who hosts a program on state channel VTV. Former veep Jorge Rodríguez, who heads a committee overseeing formation of the PSUV, came fourth, followed by Portuguesa state Governor Antonia Muñoz and National Assembly (AN) Deputy Carlos Escarrá. He got almost 6,000 more votes than his boss, AN President Cilia Flores, who also made the grade.

Further down was a flock of ministers: Érika Farías (social development and before that, food); Elías Jaua (agriculture and land), and Nicolás Maduro (foreign).

Heavyweight candidates had split into rival lists. Miranda state Governor Diosdado Cabello, leader of one of the lists, didn't make it, but was elected an alternate. Ministers Rafael Ramírez (energy and oil), Ramón Rodríguez Chacín (interior and justice) and Tarek El Assaimi (planning) ended up similarly.