The current CNE rector, Elvis Amoroso, has held positions including Vice President of the National Constituent Assembly and Comptroller General of the Republic. The lawyer and economist, sanctioned by the United States, is responsible for the disqualification of opposition leaders.
At around 12:00 am on July 29, the current rector of the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced the results of the presidential elections. Before an audience of expectant Venezuelans and the gaze of the international community, Elvis Amoroso declared the current president Nicolás Maduro the winner, with 51.2% of the votes and an “irreversible trend,” results that have been questioned.
But who is Elvis Amoroso, the official who is at the centre of the current political-electoral crisis that the country is going through?
Elvis Eduardo Hidrobo Amoroso was born in Cagua (Aragua) on August 4, 1963. He graduated as an economist from the Bicentennial University of Aragua and a lawyer from the Santa María University, according to the portal Poweropedia.
He was appointed as the principal rector of the CNE on August 24, 2023 by the 2020 National Assembly. This appointment coincided with the beginning of the campaign of the candidates for the primary elections, after the surprise resignation of the rectors of the entity, the opposition stated that it would choose to hold the elections without the technical assistance of the CNE.
By the time he was appointed head of the electoral authority, Amoroso had already developed an extensive political career within the ranks of Chavismo.
His career began in 1993 as a deputy in the Congress of the Republic for the party La Causa Radical. In 1998, he was re-elected with the support of the party Movimiento V República, founded by Hugo Chávez, and Patria para Todos. In addition, he was a deputy for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) between 2010 and 2015.
The lawyer and economist was vice president of the National Constituent Assembly in 2017 and Comptroller General of the Republic from 2018 until his appointment to the CNE. His administration was marked by the political disqualifications of Maria Corina Machado, Juan Guaidó, Freddy Superlano, Juan Pablo Guanipa and at least 25 other former deputies.
During his time as Comptroller General he also appointed his eldest son, Elvis Hydroboa lawyer specializing in Constitutional Law, as Comptroller of La Guaira. Previously, he had been a deputy elected in 2020 by the PSUV.
Amoroso is one of the Venezuelan government officials sanctioned by the United States for undermining democracy, media censorship and corruption. He has also been classified by the Panamanian government as “high risk” for alleged “money laundering.”
An opaque first election
During his first year in office at the CNE, he led the referendum for the Essequibo, his first elections. This process was marked by irregularities and opaque data. Although on the day of the referendum, December 3, 2023, there was a low turnout, at the time of giving the first bulletin, at 10:00 p.m., Amoroso announced that 10,554,320 people had registered. of votesa figure he described as “unprecedented.”
For this first release of results, voting tables were still open and Amoroso did not indicate how many ballots had been counted. He also did not provide information on the percentage of participation or abstention.
This figure raised doubts among citizens: it was not clear whether it was 10 million total votes or 10 million votes for each question. When the second results bulletin was issued, the figure was 10,431,907 voters, which represented 122,413 fewer voters than in the first results.
Twenty-four hours after these results were received, the CNE website did not display the uploaded data, nor the details of the voting by region, municipality or polling station.
On July 29, 2024, Amoroso proclaimed Nicolás Maduro as president of Venezuela for the period 2025-2031. On August 2, he offered the second bulletin of the presidential elections – with 96.87% of data transmitted – and reiterated his complaint that the CNE has been the victim of “cyber attacks massive from different parts of the world.”
To date, the disaggregated data requested by former presidential candidates and various members of the international community has not been presented.
*Read also: Carter Center recognizes González Urrutia’s victory with more than 60% of the votes
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