Punditry everywhere following Sunday's parliamentary elections in Venezuela. A.M. Mora y Leon offers some brief excerpts of conversations [1] had around the streets of upper-middle class Caracas. Boz looks at the U.S. reaction [2]. Leftside is skeptical of the opposition parties’ spin [3] on voter abstention. Miguel of The Devil's Excrement says that not even Chavistas see Sunday's election as a real victory [4]. Oil Wars makes the argument that the Venezuelan parliamentary elections were actually more legitimate than typical congressional elections in the U.S. [5]
Daniel says the Organization of American States “trashed the Venezuelan elections [6],” while Oil Wars argues [7] that, while several criticisms were made, “that the actual carrying out of the vote was very good, met the highest international standards and the final results accurately reflected the vote.”
Alex Beech is critical [8] of Colombia-based New York Times reporter, Juan Forero's coverage of the election. Tomas Sancio, also critical of the New York Times’ coverage of Venezuela, says that Chavez has lost his link to the people [9].
Louise Auerhahn says [10] that, though the opposition has reason to distrust Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE), there were enough international observers to have guaranteed a fair election.
A new weblog, Caracas Connect [11] is compiling commentary pieces on the election results from pundits around the world. The blog's mission statement [12] describes itself as a “blog devoted to dialogue about Venezuela and U.S. foreign policy toward the southern hemisphere as a whole.”
Gustavo Coronel takes a critical look [13] at Nicaraguan Chavez supporter, Roberto Rivas. Bicycle Mark explains his admiration [14] for Chavez.
Finally, Open Source Radio is seeking input for tomorrow's show on The Politics of Venezuela [15].