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Who was Hugo Chavez? Trump lawyers allege late Venezuelan president link with US voting software to rig polls

Rudy Giuliani, who is leading the team of lawyers, alleged that the election had been rigged by 'a company owned by affiliates of Chavez and Maduro'

President Donald Trump’s legal team fighting for alleged voter fraud held a press conference to claim more allegations. Rudy Giuliani, who is leading the team of lawyers, alleged that the election had been rigged by “a company owned by affiliates of Chavez and Maduro”. They had problems with the use of Dominion, a Canadian-based company. Giuliani also seemed upset about Venezuelan firm, Smartmatic, being used - despite them only operating in Los Angeles County.

According to a report in The Independent, Giuliani said, “You couldn’t possibly believe that the company owning this election machinery was an ally of Hugo Chavez, is an ally of Nicolas Maduro, and an ally of George Soros. What do we have to do to get you to the truth?” He added, “This is real. It is not made up. There is no one here who engages in fantasy. I know crimes – I can smell them.” Trump’s lawyer alleged that the votes in Michigan were “being counted in Germany, by a Venezuelan company. Owned by people who are allies of Maduro, and Chavez”.

Another Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell alleged, “We have evidence that this came from Venezuela, from Nicolas Maduro, from Hugo Chavez, from Cuba, and from China which has significant interests in Venezuela.” She added, “We have no idea how many Democratic officials paid to have the election rigged in their favour. This is a massive, well-coordinated effort. It is the 1775 of our generation and beyond.”

Powell further stated, “There should never be another election - I don’t care even for dog catcher - in this country using machines by Dominion and Smartmatic.” She also insisted, as quoted by AP, “The Dominion Voting Systems, the Smartmatic technology software, and the software that goes in other computerized voting systems here as well, not just Dominion, were created in Venezuela at the direction of Hugo Chavez to make sure he never lost an election after one constitutional referendum came out the way he did not want it to come out.”

The Independent report states, Toronto-based Dominion has been majority-owned since 2018 by Staple Street Capital, a New York private equity firm. Both Dominion and Smartmatic have released statements saying no ownership relationship exists between the two firms. Smartmatic is an international company incorporated in Florida by Venezuelan founders. And, there is no purpose to believe Dominion has ties to Venezuela or a partnership with Smartmatic.

Soon, people on Twitter began discussing the press conference, especially Hugo Chavez, who passed away in 2013. A Twitter user said, “Hugo Chavez has been dead for like 7 years lmfao, i spit the water i had in my mouth when i heard that line from him!” Another commented, “Weird how Hugo Chavez didn't deliver for us in 2016.” A user concurred, “And Hugo Chavez who died in 2013 was the mastermind behind it. Thanks for the laugh @GOP.”  One said, “Imagine the ghost of Hugo Chavez going out of his way to make Joe Biden president. What a lib.” Another commented, “Just when does Rudy plan to call Hugo Chavez to testify? I don’t want to miss that show for anything in the world!!”

Who was Hugo Chavez?

He was a Venezuelan politician who was president of Venezuela from 1999 until his death in 2013. He battled cancer and died at the age of 58. As per a 2013 CNN report, Chavez had an ambitious plan of making Venezuela, a major oil producer, into a socialist state in what was called the Bolivarian Revolution. The name was inspired by Chavez's idol, Simon Bolivar, who won independence for many South American countries in the early 1800s. "After many readings, debates, discussions, travels around the world, etcetera, I am convinced — and I believe this conviction will be for the rest of my life — that the path to a new, better and possible world is not capitalism. The path is socialism," he said on his weekly television program in 2005.

The report states that Chavez used much of the country's vast oil wealth, which increased dramatically during his tenure, for massive social programs for the country's poor. He extended the portfolio of the state-owned oil monopoly to include funding for social "missions" worth millions of dollars. These helped pay for programs that pursued to eradicate illiteracy, provide affordable food staples and grant access to higher education, among other things. But there were allegations against him for repressing politicians and private media who opposed him. He was also a vocal critic of the United States. He had accused US of trying to arrange his overthrow, and referred to President George W. Bush as the ‘devil’ in front of the United Nations General Assembly, as per CNN.

These remarks were made by the Internet and individual organizations, MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and nor does it support these claims being made on the Internet.