By Luis Fuenmayor Toro – Nov 9, 2026If the CNE [National Electoral Council] is illegal, illegitimate, and fraudulent, and it has been so since its foundation according to the opposition aligned with María Corina Machado, how can those who denounce and disqualify it in this way claim that they won elections organized by that body? Nothing done by an electoral authority with such characteristics would be legal. Something does not add up.Do the opposition extremists aligned with María Corina Machado have any proof of their victory on July 28, 2024, other than the 30% of voting accounts issued by an irritable, usurping, and Maduro-controlled CNE? How can documents issued by a fraudulent organization be legal proof of anything? Is there any coherence in these claims? Either they recognize the CNE as a legal and honest body or they stop saying nonsense.How was it that the dictatorial regime of Maduro was asked to behave like a democracy and hand over power to those who did not recognize him, denounced him, threatened him, and conspired against him unconstitutionally and illegally?Can anyone in their right mind think that the extremist opposition will ever suffer from that strange disease called coherence?How is it that Guaidó, whom no one elected and who declared himself president in a square, was recognized by the Machado-aligned opposition as interim president for four years, but Delcy Rodríguez is questioned for an interim position that has only lasted 11 months?How is it that the National Assembly of 2015 is still in effect, after almost seven years since its term ended and two legislative elections have taken place, but Delcy Rodríguez has to leave the acting presidential position now? Please, explain it to me. Give me reasons.Why was Guaidó allowed to be interim president for four years, when the constitution says that he had to call for elections within 30 days, but Delcy must hand over now? Does this behavior not border on schizophrenia?Where, in which article of the constitution or electoral laws does it say that the elections must be held on July 24, 2027? Who gave the Colombian-American senator from Ohio the authority to set election dates, whose party was overwhelmingly defeated in the midterms?Are elections held with a new CNE and new TSJ [Supreme Court of Justice] a guarantee that the country will not lose its democratic path again? Do they prevent the elected ones from once again placing themselves above the constitution, laws, and citizens’ rights?Are the opposition people aligned with Machado going to an election without having eliminated the permanent re-election of all government positions established in the constitution? Is a constitutional reform not required to end the permanent re-election of the president, governors, and mayors?Are we going to an election with a new TSJ and CNE, but with the same old flaws and existing electoral limitations? Will the elections continue to be valid regardless of the number of people who vote? Will they be valid even if only one person votes, as is the case now? Is it not necessary to reform the constitution to resolve this?And will those who get the largest proportion of votes, irrespective of the turnout, be declared the winners? Will we continue to have presidents who have only received the support of 5 or 10 or 15 or 20 percent of Venezuelans with the right to vote? Or will a minimum percentage of votes in relation to the total number of voters in the electoral roll be established, in order to be declared the winner of the process?Is the right to vote blank not going to be incorporated, so that voters who do not wish to vote for any of the options can express themselves clearly? The blank vote would be a valid but ineffective vote, meaning it has no effect on the election of candidates, but it does count toward the quorum of votes needed to determine the winners.María Corina Machado’s Return Accelerates ‘D-Day’ in VenezuelaAre we going to continue with a majoritarian electoral system, which has now reached a total absurdity and has no relation to the will of the voters? Are we going to continue allowing the winner, even if by a minimal difference, to take two-thirds of the legislative seats? Is this not a mockery?Or are we going to seriously address the problem of proportional representation, so that the various political groups have a number of representatives according to the proportion of votes obtained? Is that not fair, logical, and constitutional?Is a runoff election between the two candidates getting the largest number of votes not going to be implemented, in order to give more support to the one finally elected?How come neither the extremist opposition nor the government have talked about a constitutional reform for these cases? Could it be that they do not want these changes? (Costa del Sol FM)Translation: Orinoco TribuneOT/SC/CD