Is their any proof that Hugo Chavez rigged elections?

[☭World Views]

Despite all of the rhetoric from the right they can't seem to provide me with any solid, irrefutable proof. Does it even exist?

As far as I know, he was elected by the people of Venezuela 3 times.

[el_chavista]

1998 Hugo Chávez won presidential elections with 56% of votes
2000 Chávez won under the new Constitution with 71%
2004 Ratified as president in a referendum with 59%
2006 Chávez won presidential elections with 62%
2009 Chávez won referendum allowing continued postulation as presidential candidate with 54%

These general results have not been impugned by international observers.

[chegitz guevara]

Despite all the hue and cry about election fraud from the losers, international observers have not been able to document any major irregularities.

[NecroCommie]

If they found proof of only an election fraud, it would also prove that Chavez is the best fucking leader in latin america.

After all, it's not hard to be the best in a group of molesting, marauding, murdering, stealing, lying, corrupted, satan worshipping, conservative, stupid, selfish, U.S. leaning, imperialist, well dressing wankers.

[cb9's_unity]

Both sides in the elections have not exactly been pristine or acted in a way that was completely appropriate. However I read The Carter Center report on the referendum and even they say that it was the will of the Venezuelan people to support Chavez.

We must remember that while Chavez has certainly shown himself to be progressive in many respects he hasn't yet proven that he he more than a bourgeois politician.

[chegitz guevara]

a group of molesting, marauding, murdering, stealing, lying, corrupted, satan worshipping, conservative, stupid, selfish, U.S. leaning, imperialist, well dressing wankers.

Stop holding back. Tell us how you really feel. :)

[Outinleftfield]

There's more evidence of election fraud for Bush.

The right has to make Chavez look like a dictator so they can keep up the myth that democracy and capitalism go together.

I dont agree with everything he's done but he has done the people of Venezuela good and has set a good example of what's possible.

[FreeFocus]

International monitors have not brought up charges of election fraud, so basically no.

[Anaximander]

For a product of the military establishment and a bourgeois politician, he is certainly pushing the limits of what is possible through bourgeois democracy.

It seems the movement against him has been gaining strength, no doubt due to propaganda and machinations from Western media sources. The ruckus in Columbia is an example of the reactionary forces piling up against him, and I believe that without a truly political revolution in Venezuela, the reaction against him will eventually turn the tide. Considering the reaction is a popular front designed and stirred up to protect the interests of wealthy elite, in order to hold on to these private interests in the event of Chavez overthrow or election from office, an American sponsored neo-fascist state, the likes of which we have seen before in Central and South America, would not be out of the realm of possibility. Therefore, I tentatively support Chavez as a bastion against reaction in Venezuela. That said, I think workers revolution is the only measure through which the progressive gains can be ensured and furthered; without one, it is only a matter of time... As Walter Benjamin said, "every fascism is an index of a failed revolution."

Just a little speculation.