Who was Tibisay Lucena, the rector of questioned electoral victories of Chavismo in Venezuela

The Minister of University Education of Venezuela, Tibisay Lucenapassed away this Wednesday, a piece of news that opened the trunk of memories associated with this woman who for 14 years presided over the National Electoral Council (CNE), where she acted as the herald of numerous victories for Chavismo, several of them questioned by the opposition and other countries.

Although in his last 18 months of life he was in charge of the university portfolio, Lucena, 63, is remembered for her midnight bulletins announcing electoral results, almost always in favor of the ruling party.

LOOK: Tibisay Lucena, minister and former president of the electoral entity of Venezuela, dies

In the repertoire of memories left by the sociologisthighlights his eagerness to exclusively disseminate irreversible trends every time elections were held, for which reason Venezuelans were forced to wait, sometimes until dawn, for her to announce the winners of the contests. His opinion was a holy word.

With 18 elections organized under her command, the rector’s face became one of the protagonists in the country’s political narrative, who believed and opted for the electoral route to resolve conflicts, some of them charged with street protests that resulted in several dozen deaths.

only twice Lucena came on stage to announce defeats for Chavismo: in 2007, when 50% rejected the constitutional reform proposal promoted by the deceased Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), and in 2015, when the opposition won the qualified majority of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament).

The rest of the time, his walk from the counting room of the CNE even the press area was the omen of a new triumph for the Bolivarian revolution, which won the majority of mayors, governors and seats for legislators between 2006 and 2020, a period in which promulgated four presidential victories for Chavismo.

While in the first half of her tenure she was respected by the majority of the opposition, After Chávez’s death in 2013, his integrity began to be questioned by anti-Chavismowhich has escalated in its accusations, especially since 2017, when it organized the election of the National Constituent Assembly, a process seen as fraudulent by opponents of the Government and numerous countries.

Venezuela’s President-elect Nicolás Maduro raises his fist as he shows a document delivered by CNE President Tibisay Lucena in Caracas on April 15, 2013. (JUAN BARRETO / AFP). (JUAN BARRETO /)

Hereafter, the rector was sanctioned by the United States “for weakening democracy and human rights in Venezuela”, while the European Union also applied restrictive measures due to its responsibility in the “constant deterioration of the situation” in the country.

All the suspicions about his Chavista militancy were confirmed, in the opinion of the opposition, once he left the CNE in 2020, after which she was “awarded” with presidential appointments that included the appointment as minister in October 2021.

He chavismoto whom she was always close, has fully lamented the death, with a host of messages on social networks in which They describe Lucena as a person of “integrity, courage, loyal to her principles and ideals, defender of democracy, distinguished daughter of Venezuela” and as an “irreducible and full of love” woman.

The opposition, or at least the majority, which in the past described her as an “accomplice of the dictatorship”, has remained silent. after the news was released, a different position to the one that is lived in social networks, in which this death became the most commented topic, within Venezuela and in other countries where thousands of Venezuelans now live.

Source: Elcomercio