The announcement was made by the Secretary General of the Central Committee, Oscar Figuera, after the culmination of the third phase of the XVI National Conference held last Saturday, June 22, to define the tactics of the communists in the face of the July 28 presidential elections.
The General Secretary of the PCV explained that in the deliberations of the XVI National Conference, «It was considered necessary to continue promoting the meeting of the diverse democratic and popular currents, not only those identified with the left, but also with the democratic camp, which are today convinced that it is necessary to get out of this historical tragedy».
When evaluating the political situation, the delegates unanimously rejected the reelection of Nicolás Maduro and agreed that the genuine membership of the PCV must face the two hegemonic poles and, consequently, said Figuera, «this reality led the National Conference to decide the candidacy of engineer Enrique Márquez».
«Today we reiterate the need to coincide in a programmatic proposal that vindicates the rights of the workers and the people in general; that takes into account the demands for wages, social benefits, vacations, Christmas bonuses; the right to union organization and collective bargaining agreement; to prevent the processes of persecution and criminalization of those who fight; to release the imprisoned workers.»
«In this exchange with the candidate, we have also raised the recovery of the political rights of the people. The validity of the Constitution as a fundamental source of reference for the reestablishment of institutionality in Venezuela. The recognition of the true leaderships of the parties that have been intervened by decision of the Government’s leadership; the reform of the law so that there is truly proportional representation of minorities», he added.
The rights of the indigenous peoples, the defense of nature and «an independent and sovereign foreign policy, not subordinated to any power block», are other core issues of the political-electoral agreement that the PCV will sign with the political organization Centrados [that is backing Marquez’s candidacy].
Rebuilding the country hand in hand with the workers
Presidential candidate Enrique Márquez expressed his honor to receive the endorsement of Venezuelan communists, «a party that has been in the most important historical events of our contemporary Venezuela».
«At a moment in which we speak of national unity, from Centrados and from our candidacy, we could not but seek precisely that unity, that unity of criteria, that unity of feelings, because politics is not exempt from that», he added.
Referring to the coincidences with the PCV, the candidate affirmed: «We have found similar paths in what we have called the ‘government of the workers’, to give privilege and participation to a sector, perhaps the most affected in the country».
Marquez advanced that he aspires to add to his candidacy «all those sectors that want to build a different country, a country of tolerance, because this intolerance exhibited by the National Government, headed by its candidate for continuity, Nicolas Maduro, has been part of the problem of this political movement that has been remaining alone, that has been remaining squalidly alone in power».
The engineer from Zulia state [west Venezuela] criticized that the reelection campaign of the [ruling] United Socialism Party of Venezuela (PSUV) was based on the mistreatment of its competitors.
«In answering our refusal to sign an agreement with Maduro, he called us oligarchs. President, here I am with the ‘oligarchy’ of the Communist Party,» he joked before the press and added: «If you want to see an oligarch, President, first look up the definition of oligarchy: Oligarchy is a government defined by a small group of people who control both public power and economic power. Once you read that, open the bathroom door, look at yourself in the mirror to see a real oligarch because, indeed, in the hands of the ruling thread, around you is not only the political power, but the economic power of this country».
To the accusation of being a «conspirator», also made by the Head of State, Marquez affirmed: «Our only conspiracy is to seek the vote of the Venezuelan people to change the future of this country, because no one in his right mind thinks that with you at the head, this can change».
«The people will vote against you and we will have a Government that will make possible a better future for our country. A future that will not be easy. Nobody says that it is easy to rebuild this tragedy, but we will do it hand in hand with the workers; we will do it hand in hand with the working people in every company, in every office, in every ministry, in every school, in every hospital. We will do it and we will recover each one of these spaces for the people. We will do it with honesty», he concluded.
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