Courtesy of: Carlos Garcia Rawlins / Reuters
With less than 60 days before the elections, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles’ team says polls show him leading President Hugo Chávez. The latest scandal in the campaign is over Capriles’ hat, which the National Electoral Council (CNE) says violates campaign laws concerning the use of the flag. The CNE ignores Chávez’s rampant use of similar imagery in his campaign. Chávez draws criticism for accusing Capriles, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, of having ties to Nazi groups. Meanwhile, excessive election-year spending by Chávez’s government has investors predicting a currency devaluation in the coming months. Several outlets report that the country’s oil industry, despite possessing the world’s largest reserves, has been crippled by mismanagement and poor policy. Chávez’s ties with Iran and Hezbollah provoke worries about potential threats to U.S. security.
Venezuela’s Opposition Says Capriles Leading Chavez in Polls, Bloomberg
Venezuela’s opposition said today that its candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski is surging ahead of President Hugo Chavez in opinion polls for the Oct. 7 election.
Venezuela Presidential Race Rocked by Baseball Cap, Fox News
The latest issue to put Venezuela’s presidential rivals at odds with each other? A baseball cap. At the center of their latest dispute is a cap emblazoned with the colors of Venezuela’s flag that opposition candidate Henrique Capriles frequently wears at campaign rallies ahead of the country’s Oct. 7 election.
A Feather in Capriles’s Cap, International Herald Tribune
Venezuela’s campaign for the presidential contest of Oct. 7 descended into farce last week when election officials chastised the opposition for abusing campaign rules.
Venezuela candidate slams Chavez’s Nazi accusations, AFP
Venezuela’s leading opposition candidate — whose grandmother is a Holocaust survivor — on Tuesday slammed President Hugo Chavez’s accusations that he is tied to Nazi groups.
P&G Bracing for ‘Large’ Venezuela Devaluation After Election, Bloomberg Businessweek
Venezuela may carry out a “large” devaluation after October elections, according to Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) (PG), the world’s largest consumer products company.
The Venezuelan Elections: How Can PDVSA Recover?,Journal of Energy Security
The Venezuelan oil industry can be pictured as a toothless tiger resting on its haunches before a huge slice of raw meat.
Venezuelan cheap petrol backfires on economy, Financial Times
The perverse effects of Venezuela’s cheap petrol policy can be seen everywhere in the country.
Iran’s influence in Venezuela: Washington should worry, Miami Herald
The same week that President Obama downplayed the threat to U.S. security from Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, a high-level delegation from Hezbollah was visiting Caracas and Havana. Ammar Musawi, head of Hezbollah International Department, praised Cuba as a model on how to oppose “imperialist hegemony, arrogance, and plunder.”