Ahead of Sunday’s Presidential election in Venezuela, a number of academics have called on sections of the UK media to end its misrepresentation about the polls in Venezuela. In an open letter (below) they raise concerns that much of the reporting of the polls is merely reflecting the spin coming from the right-wing candidates’ camp that the presidential race is tight.This is despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of pollsters give strong leads for Hugo Chavez, on average of 12%.
They express fears that sections of Venezuela’s right wing opposition are deliberately trying to paint a false picture about polls in order to falsely claim “that any defeat at next week’s elections is simply the result of fraud”. They would then seek to have the legitimate results de-recognised.
They point out that: “It would not be the first time that sections of the Venezuelan right-wing opposition have sought to undermine the democratic will of the Venezuelan people in this way.”
This strategy is proposed by some extreme elements of the right-wing opposition as the best way to undermine any re-election of Hugo Chavez. This is despite former US President Jimmy Carter saying in September that “the election process in Venezuela is the best in the world” and that Hugo Chavez has always won “fairly and squarely”.
For the full text of the letter plus the sources: VSC
