Presidential elections were held in Venezuela on 3 December 2006 to elect a president for a six-year term to begin on 10 January 2007. The contest was primarily between incumbent President Hugo Chávez, and Zulia Governor Manuel Rosales of the opposition party A New Era.

After winning a recall referendum in 2004, President Chávez positioned himself for re-election in 2006 for a second full term. The opposition did not hold a primary, instead, the candidates reached a consensus into backing the governor of the largest state (Zulia), Manuel Rosales. Chávez benefited from a high popularity, and led most opinion polls throughout the campaign. He went to win re-election by the widest margin by percentage of the popular vote since the 1947 elections, and by the largest margin of votes cast in the history of Venezuela.

Candidates There were fourteen candidates in total, making the ballot the largest in Venezuelan history. According to El Universal, this was caused by division among adherents to grassroots Chavismo.Heading for presidential elections. El Universal (25 August 2006). Hugo Chávez, incumbent president, representing the Fifth Republic Movement Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia State, representing A New Era Pedro Aranguren of Movimiento Conciencia de País Carolina Contreras, independent Venezuela Portuguesa Da Silva Isquierdo of Nuevo Orden Social Ángel Irigoyen, of Let Us Break Chains (RC) Isbelia León, of the Strength and Peace Institution Luis Alfonso Reyes Castillo of Organización Juventud Organizada de Venezuela (Joven) Homer Rodríguez, of For Love of Venezuela Carmelo Romano Pérez, Liberal United People Movement Yudith Salazar of Hijos de la Patria Alejandro José Suárez Luzardo of the Partido Sentir Nacional José Tineo, Venezuelan Third Millennium National Party Eudes Vera Tovar, independent

Withdrawn candidates Jesús Caldera Infante the former president of FOGADE, representing the New Progressive Alliance. On 29 November, he withdrew his candidacy and backed Rosales.El Universal 29 November 2006 (03:47 PM) Caldera Infante se retira y apoya candidatura de Rosales. Retrieved 29 November 2006 Benjamín Rausseo a stand-up comedian, endorsed by the newly formed "PIEDRA" party. Three weeks before the election, in accordance with a campaign pledge he had made earlier (to stand down if not placed first or second in the opinion polls), he withdrew his candidacy without endorsing either Chávez or Rosales, telling his supporters to vote for either.Terra Dimite opositor que figuraba en encuestas tras Rosales y Chávez . Retrieved 15 November 2006

Primary election Opposition leaders debated on how they could choose a single candidate. Julio Borges, of Justice First, proposed holding primary elections for August 2006. Civil society organization Súmate recommended procedures for a primary, to be held on 13 August 2006, to choose the opposition candidate for the December 2006 presidential elections. Súmate announced primaries for August 13th. El Universal (7 July 2006). Among the candidates were: Manuel Rosales (A New Era), Teodoro Petkoff (independent), Sergio Omar Calderón (Copei), Wiliam Ojeda (Un Solo Pueblo), Cecilia Sosa (Federal Republican Party), Enrique Tejera París (independent) and Vicente Brito (Republican Movement). Nine other candidates agreed to the terms for holding a primary, confirming their desire to allow the citizens to choose the opposition candidate.Froilán Barrios condenó expresiones de Petkoff. El Universal (7 July 2006).

The main candidates, Julio Borges and Teodoro Petkoff, agreed to withdraw from the pre-candidacy to endorse Manuel Rosales, based on his opinion polling support. More than thirty political and civil organizations publicly expressed their support to Rosales. The trade union bureau of Democratic Actions, as well as its regional components and many party leaders, announced that they would support the single opposition candidate in the December elections. On 9 August, Súmate announced that the 13 August primary election would not be held, since the candidates had decided to back Manuel Rosales as the single opposition candidate. María Corina Machado said that the primary "initiative accomplished its goal and that Súmate would continue working to ensure clean elections and respect for citizens' rights".Súmate: there will be no primary elections. El Universal (8 August 2006).

Campaign

Chávez Chávez's campaign manager Rafael Lacava said that the campaign was to be based on defending Venezuela's national sovereignty and promoting world peace. According to Unión Radio, Lacava added that a campaign theme was to be the "country's freedom to no longer be a North American colony".Unión Radio. Campaña de Chávez estará basada en la defensa de la soberanía. (21 August 2006) Retrieved 21 August 2006. According to the Associated Press, Chávez launched his campaign "with warnings that Washington is trying to undermine December's presidential vote and destabilize Venezuela", saying "I am the candidate of the revolution and without a doubt I am the candidate of the national majority", dismissing other candidates as "tools of the U.S. government".Barbour, Scott. Venezuela's Chavez launches campaign for re-election. Associated Press (12 August 2006). El Universal reports that Chávez said, "In this electoral process there are two candidates only, namely Hugo Chávez and George W. Bush".Chávez: "10 million vote goal is hard to attain". El Universal (18 August 2006).

Chávez promised that if elected he would personally convoke a midterm recall referendum in the year 2010 without the need for petition signatures as was the case with the 2004 recall referendum, and that he won that recall referendum, he would then call for a referendum to ask the people for indefinite re-election to be put into the constitution. On 26 November Chávez made his final rally in Caracas. Reuters estimated that hundreds of thousands participated.Chavez vows to beat the "devil" . Retrieved 27 November 2006 Chávez supporters packed several streets.

Rosales Rosales said that the backbone of his government program was to be the social arena, saying it will be a "sound and well defined" program, including a "fair allocation of oil revenues by means of two axes– minimum wage for all unemployed and direct contribution to the underprivileged".Rosales's candidacy formally announced. El Universal (9 August 2006). The latter being promoted as Mi Negra which is a debit card handed out to the poor with monthly deposits from 20% of oil industry profits. Nevertheless, a poll shows 59% of the Venezuelan people rejected the Mi Negra program, preferring stable jobs.El Nacional 59% de los venezolanos reprueban plan Mi Negra . Retrieved 2 June 2006 According to the Los Angeles Times, Rosales stated that Chávez was vulnerable on his "massive foreign aid programs, government-approved takeovers of land and buildings, and the perception that crime is increasing". Rosales said, "We will distribute land to the peasants, but we will buy it in such a way as to respect the principle of private property, just as we will respect those of human rights and social justice". Rosales would halt oil giveaways, "including sales of discounted oil to Cuba, until Venezuela reduced its high poverty rate".Kraul, Chris. "Chavez's Foes Cancel Primary, Line Up Behind One Candidate." Los Angeles Times (9 August 2006).

The Associated Press reports that Rosales accuses Chávez of "overspending on a military buildup" and pledged "to use Venezuela's oil wealth to help the poor and improve education and health care", ridiculing Chávez's "claims of a possible war with the U.S." and saying, "Venezuela's real war should be against rampant street crime".Sanchez, Fabiola. "Rosales Opposition Choice to Face Chavez". Associated Press (10 August 2006). Rosales held several large rallies around the country; the largest being "Las Avalanchas" in Caracas.Bloomberg. Mass Venezuela opposition rally (8 October 2006). Retrieved 2 November 2006. Rallies were held in several states to try to get the Rosales campaign to be heard by as many people as possible. To close his election campaign, Manuel Rosales held a huge final rally in Caracas with an estimate by the Associated Press to be in the hundreds of thousands.Associated Press Anti-Chavez protesters march en masse in Caracas . Retrieved 27 November 2006

No debate held Rosales demanded a public debate, saying Chávez should choose the TV channel where the debate would be broadcast. He also said "I am waiting for him (Chávez) to have a debate with me broadcast by all the TV channels to allow Venezuelans to know what is the project and the vision of the country he has and the project and vision we have". Chávez declared he would not debate Rosales because "the candidates from the opposition do not even have the condition to debate a schoolboy or girl in sixth grade from a Bolivarian school".Prensa Latina. Debate centra campaña opositora en Venezuela. (24 October 2006). Retrieved 28 November 2006.Globovision. Candidato Chávez aseguró que candidatos de la oposición no tienen condiciones para un debate. (22 October 2006). Retrieved 28 November 2006.

Slogans and ads Chávez Chávez launched his campaign with a slogan of 10 Millones de votos (10 million votes),El Universal (El Universal 29 October 2006)Caravana del oficialismo en Caracas. Retrieved 11 November 2006 "y el slogan de los diez millones de votos." On multiple occasions the campaign used the more combative "10 millones por el buche" (10 million votes down their throats). On 17 August 2006, while leading the oath at the national campaign headquarters (Commando Miranda), Chávez acknowledged that 10 million votes would be hard to attain.

From 9 October, Chávez campaign used the slogans por amor (for love) and Chávez, victoria de Venezuela (Chávez, Venezuela's victory). They also used the slogan uh, ah, Chávez no se va (ooh, oh, Chávez won't go) from the 2004 recall referendum campaign.El Tiempo. El presidente Hugo Chávez es ahora amoroso y azul. (12 October 2006). Retrieved 29 October 2006. The Guardian. "The New-Look Chávez: Lover, People's Poet, Electioneer." (18 October 2006). A poll conducted by Cifras Escenarios reported that 76.7% of Venezuelans liked the love message.Terra. El 76,7 por ciento de los venezolanos aprueba el 'mensaje de amor' de Hugo Chávez. (22 October 2006). Retrieved 29 October 2006 The English translation of the message is as follows:

Rosales Atrévete con Manuel Rosales is the Rosales campaign slogan.Atrévete con Manual Rosales. . Retrieved 25 August 2006.

¡Ni el imperio, ni el barbudo! (Neither the [U.S.] empire, nor the [Cuban] bearded one!) is a slogan used by Rosales in launching his campaign, intended to "hit Chávez where the Venezuelan comandante is most vulnerable: his penchant for giving away billions of dollars to foreign countries, while nearly half of the Venezuelan people live in poverty" referring to subsidized oil deals to both Cuba and the United States. "We are not going to be the empire's defenders," Rosales said. "The empire must respect our sovereignty, and we must respect the empire," and "we cannot be looking at societies like Cuba as a model to be copied. We want modernity, transformation, development."

Endorsements Chávez

Action Force of Base Coordination (FACOBA)Poder Electoral admitió postulaciones de siete candidatos presidenciales. El Universal (19 August 2006). Action Networks of Community Change (REDES) Active Democracy National Organization (ONDA) Communitary Patriotic Unity (UPC) Emergent People (GE) Everybody Wins Independent Movement (MIGATO) Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) Independents for the National Community (IPCN) Laboral Power (PL) Militants Civic Movement (MCM) Movement for Direct Democracy (MDD) National Independent Movement (MNI) National Socialist Group of Liberation Pro Venezuela (PROVEN) New People Concentration Movement (MCGN) Tupamaro Revolutionary Middle Class (CMR)