The more I think about it, the more I think the standard opposition line on CNE makes no sense. People in the opposition tend to see the election council as more or less the equivalent of Miraflores Palace, because both are chavista institutions. But we know from our side that not all institutions in a coalition are alike. When chavistas treat the media barons, the bloque democratico, and the coordinadora democratica, all as one single undifferentiated mass of coup-plotting hysterics, we can see they failed to understand the internal dynamics of the opposition. But why is it so hard for us to accept that saying CNE=Comando Ayacucho could be just as wrong-headed, and for all the same reasons?
CNE was under heavy pressure to do something to derail the recall process by now. They stalled, yes, but in the end, they were not willing to derail the process entirely. Last March they were under serious pressure to simply declare the "planas" outright invalid and end the process, but they didn't do so. They then came under heavy pressure to produce an unworkable, unrealistic reparos process that left the opposition "as good as dead" - instead they chose a viable reparos process, praised by OAS as "expeditious and effective", that has led to activating the referendum. Even at the last minute they came under pressure to "slice" the signatures, and they refused to do that either. So, at some point along the line, we have to ask ourselves: is this really the pattern of behavior of an institution that just follows orders slavishly from Miraflores? It doesn't make sense to me...
What do you think?
