Maduro Closes Electoral Campaign with Warnings about the Nation’s Course

HAVANA TIMES — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declared today that Sunday’s legislative elections will decide whether the country moves forward “or falls off the precipice,” DPA reported.

Maduro closed the government’s electoral campaign with a mass rally in Caracas, where he accused the opposition of advancing a false proposal for “change” and of supporting an “unpatriotic, cowardly and corrupt” model.

On Bolivar Avenue in downtown Caracas, the president addressed the gathered supporters and said his candidates will secure a “splendid” victory at the elections and renew the 167 seats at the National Assembly (Congress), but warned that “no one can say with certainty that we’ve already won.”

He added that, on Sunday, the people will “teach imperialism a lesson with a perfect victory,” through the electoral campaign known as “1 x 10”, where every government supporter tries to convince 10 people close to them to vote for government candidates.

“We are the guarantee of the country’s peace, safety and future. We guarantee that the country belongs to all of us, that the wealth we produce with our work is invested in education, health and children, that the country’s resources are invested to the benefit of the people. I want to continue moving forward. It’s up to you to decide if you want to continue moving forward or if we jump off the precipice,” he declared.

Maduro pointed out that the government “rose up” during the campaign in view of popular discontent over economic problems and that, as campaigning came to a close, “we are winning.”

“This I know. I trust the people. The people of Venezuela are not traitors or sell-outs, they are a people who won back their dignity,” he affirmed.

“No one can claim we’ve won already, victory is ahead of us. We’ve risen up during the campaign and today, December 3, we can say that Chavismo is closing the campaign at the lead and ready to win on Sunday,” he added.

In this connection, he declared that US imperialism wants to destroy the Bolivarian revolution to “rob” the country of its oil, and that “oil will belong to Venezuela or to no one, whatever it takes.”

Maduro also warned that if the opposition secures a majority in Congress, faced with the prospect of the country coming to a standstill, the people will redouble their activism at street level.

“This country won’t be paralyzed by anything or anyone,” Maduro said before the gathered crowd. “What would happen if they secured a majority and denied the government its budget allocations? The people would rally by the thousands,” he affirmed.

He said that, while the government put forth fresh young candidates, the opposition presented Venezuelans with a group of political veterans that would speak to voters of “change.”

“They represent false change. They are lazy and incompetent. That’s the truth. All of the additional loans I request (from Congress) are opposed by the right,” he stated.

The president pointed out that the choice on Sunday will be between two models: “that of a rebellious, Bolivarian and Chavista nation, and the unpatriotic, cowardly, pro-Yankee and highly corrupted model advanced by the right.”

He went on to add that the task ahead of the government and its supporters is to “free the homeland of the grasp of the bourgeois parasites, which reaches across the entire economy, and make the country’s economy independent.”

In this connection, he said that, in the course of the week, he had seen a line of customers at a supermarket that he had reported to the authorities months ago and that he called the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) to look into the matter, an investigation that concluded with the detention of the manager, who is “currently in jail.”

“That’s justice. We have to rid ourselves of the bourgeoisie which has declared war on the people. I would like to do much more to impel a more radical revolution in the productive economy, but we need Sunday’s victory to give the parasitical bourgeoisie a lesson,” he said.

He added that “it would be very said if the people were defeated by the economic war,” which he claims is being waged by hoarders.

“It would drive a spear into the nation’s heart. Are you willing to surrender to the bourgeoise? Are you going to go down on your knees and vow to the rich? Are you going to hand over the homeland to Yankee imperialism?” he asked those present.

The opposition also closed its campaign with a rally in the city’s east end, where the main candidates from Caracas and Miranda’s central region participated.