Evening star., 1946-10-20
Venezuela Ready
FOrFreeEleCt1OnS
Br E. L. Almen

CARACAS, Venezuela. mil
lion Venezuelans Are expected to vote
for national constituent assembly
October 81 in an election hailed as the
first towering of democracy in this
country
The balloting marks two historic mile
stones in Venezuela. 1t will be the first
national election by direct vote, and
women will vote for the first time.
The constituent assembly will be
charged with drafting new constitu-
ton, selecting a provisional President
and setting date for election OF a
constitutional President.
A free and direct national election to
pick a constituent assembly was one OF
the first promises made by the revolu-
tionary lunta after the brief but bloody
uprising that deposed President 1saias
Medina Angarita on october Is, l945.
President Romulo Betancourt and
other members of the junta pledged that
none of them would be candidates for
the constituent assembly or the pres
idency, and the de facto government is
putting great store upon its measures
to provide an honest election accurately
rejecting the will of the people.
Liberal Party in Control
Registration and election machinery
were turned over to an electoral COM
mission composed of representatives
of all national political parties and
persons not affiliated with any party and
the government appropriated 100000
bolivares (about $4,000, ,O0O) for its work.
Since the revolution, the government
has been in the hands of men Identified
for many years with the Accion Demo-
cratica Party, the group selected by
army leaders of the revolution to rule
pending a normalization of political
procedure.
A liberal party which claims wide
popular support, Accion Democratica is
regarded as the favorite to capture a
plurality, if not a majority, of the
constituent assembly seats. 1t is groom
ing the well-known poet. Romulo
Gallegos, as constitutional president.
Like all parties in power, it has &C
cumulated power through patronage
and the bureaucratic structure 1t has
built and it is the main target of op-
position parties which charge that
Accion Democratica is seeking to es-
tablish f-perpetuating rule.
Communist Party Active.
The Union Republican, Democratica
generally is considered the govern
ment partys greatest threat URD
emerged after the revolution and per-
haps is more nearly identified with
Accion Democratica in political ldeol-
ogy than with any other party It's
leader is Jovito Villalba, lawyer.
The Communist Party is the third
principal political group ranged on the
left. Active and vocal, the Communists
seem to have gained large following
in the urban areas, but their overall
strength is unknown.
The conservatives are grouped mainly
in the Comite De Organization Elec-
toral Independence, which is attacked
by all other parties as the reactionary
group in Venezuela, the remnants OF
the political hierarchy that ruled under
tfe Gomez dictatorship and had an
important voice in the regime of Eliezer
Lopez Contreras, who succeeded the
dictator.
The so-called Socialist Parties are
in the field, but are given little chance
of winning much in the election. They
are the Partido Socialista Venezolano,
the Partido Socialista De TrabaJadores
and the Partido Socialista Crlstiano.
The armed forces are charged with
maintaining public order and assuring
eligible voters access to the polling
booths.
Inasmuch as the franchise has been
given to illiterates as well as other
citizens 18 years or older. the balloting
will be by colored cards the size Of
a calling card.
distributed by the Assoeistsd Prsss)