The Devil's Excrement

This story is so incredibly ridiculous, ironic and in a perverse sense, funny, that I could not possibly pass up translating it:

WARNING: THIS IS NOT A JOKE

They cry out fraud in the election of the “queen” of the Electoral Board (CNE).

The Electoral National Council (CNE) has been shaken again by charges of electoral fraud, but this time it does not have anything to do with politics:  they are aimed against the selection of its own beauty queen.  While the charges by the political opposition of the country against the decision of the CNE to give the victory to President Hugo Chavez in the recall referendum vote on his mandate have yet to be silencec, employees of the institution protested against a supposed manipulation in the election of the most beautiful employee of the CNE, Reuters informed. 

According to witnesses, last Wednesday the CNE workers rejected with shouts the selection in an internal beauty contest, of an employee of the press department.  In the surveys prior to the election, the girl who was winning was not among the favorites.  “Everybody was surprised ‘”, said to Reuters a civilian employee of the CNE, that requested not to be identified.  “Perhaps the men thought that she was not the most beautiful; people in the back shouted “fraud” and they left the hall “, he added. 

Witnesses assured us that the president of the CNE, lawyer Francisco Carrasquero, was one of the five members of the jury of the contest in which 17 candidates participated.  The suspicions and outraged accusations of the employees reminded everyone of the charges by the political opposition that, in spite of not exhibiting concrete proofs and against the opinion of international observers, assures everyone that the CNE altered the results of presidential recall referendum of August15th.  in order to grant Chávez the triumph that ratified him in his position until 2007. 

The Democratic Coordinator (CD) charges that the CNE is dominated by those in favor of the government of Chávez, and says that they have manipulated the voting system to yield the victory to him.

 The CNE is celebrating this week the anniversary of the designation of their authorities in the 2003 by the Supreme Court of Justice.  The election of the “queen” was part of those celebrations, in a country that takes very seriously its beauty contests and that has managed to obtain more international crowns of beauty that any other nation in the globe.  It was not clear if the CNE will keep the result or if it accepted the demand by some employees who demanded a revision of the election.

This entry was posted on September 13, 2004 at 10:50 pm and is filed under Venezuela.