United Socialist Party of Venezuela selects candidates for local elections

Real democracy is that which comes from the people, affirmed Hugo Chávez, Bolivarian leader and president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), on evaluating the grassroots elections held to select the party’s candidates for upcoming November elections for governors and mayors. After exercising his right to vote at the Manuel Palacio Fajardo Technical School in the emblematic Caracas neighborhood of 23 de Enero, Chávez described the events of Sunday, June 1 as historic, and — despite efforts by the opposition to discredit the PSUV’s example — unprecedented in the democratic history of this South American nation. In a brief meeting with reporters covering the elections, Chávez highlighted their significance for the process of forming the party, which already has consolidated 14,000 'battalions' throughout the country and, in a prior congress, successfully defined its programmatic principles, internal norms and organizational strategy, subsequently electing its national leadership.