Pencil Alliance
{{Infobox political party
| country = Venezuela
| name = Pencil Alliance
| native_name = Alianza del Lápiz
|foundation = 2017
|logo = Logo Pencil Alliance (political partie in Venezuela) 2023.png
|leader = Antonio Ecarri
|website = {{Official website| https://web.archive.org/web/20230110233415/https://lapizvenezuela.com/}}
|}}
The Pencil Alliance (known as Pencil, in Spanish: Alianza del Lápiz.) is a centrist Venezuelan political party founded on November 1, 2017. It currently has two mayors in the municipalities of San Sebastián and Libertador in the state of Aragua. It also has a council member in the Libertador Municipality of Caracas, along with other council members throughout the country.{{Cite web|url= https://talcualdigital.com/carmen-melendez-gano-en-caracas-pero-el-psuv-ya-no-sera-la-unica-fuerza-en-el-concejo-municipal/|date=2023|title= Carmen Meléndez ganó en Caracas pero el PSUV ya no será la única fuerza en el Concejo Municipal.}}
History
The party participated for the first time in Venezuela's 2021 regional elections, where its main candidate and president of the political organization, Antonio Ecarri, finished second for the mayoralty of the Libertador Municipality of Caracas, losing to the ruling PSUV party and beating the candidate of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, establishing itself as the leading opposition force in the country's capital.{{Cite web|url=https://cronica.uno/alianza-del-lapiz-quiere-liderar-ltransformacion-politica-venezuela/|title=Alianza del Lápiz, el pequeño partido opositor que quiere liderar la transformación política de Venezuela.|date=2022}}
The Pencil Alliance, Cambiemos, Progressive Advance, and National Integrity Movement (Min-Unidad) parties decided to submit Antonio Ecarri's nomination to the National Electoral Council (CNE) on March 22, 2024, as a candidate for the presidential elections scheduled for July 28, 2024.{{Cite web|url= https://laverdad.com/alianza-del-lapiz-y-otros-partidos-presentan-candidatura-de-ecarri-a-presidenciales/|title= Alianza del Lápiz y otros partidos inscriben candidatura de Ecarri a presidenciales.|date=2024}}
Ideology
The party defines itself as "a social and political movement inspired by the political thought of Arturo Uslar Pietri, Luis Beltrán Pietro Figueroa and Cecilio Acosta, which seeks the transformation of Venezuela through education."{{Cite web|url=https://lapizvenezuela.com/|title=Pagina oficial de la Alianza del Lápiz}}
Trayectory
The Pencil Alliance established itself as an opposition party removed from the dynamics of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, participating in the 2021 Venezuelan regional elections with its own candidate, Antonio Ecarri, bringing with it discontent from sectors of the opposition.{{Cite web|url= https://caigaquiencaiga.net/duro-golpe-al-g4-mud-fuerza-vecinal-inscribe-candidatura-de-antonio-ecarri-a-la-alcaldia-de-caracas/|title= Duro golpe al G4-MUD: Fuerza Vecinal inscribe candidatura de Antonio Ecarri a la Alcaldía de Caracas.|date=2021}}