Courtesy of: Meridith Kohut for The New York Times
Hugo Chávez formally registered his candidacy for president of Venezuela last week in his first major public appearance in months. Analysts closely watched the event in which Chávez gave a long speech, despite showing signs of his poor health. But regardless of this attempt to tamp down rumors of his ailing health, many Venezuelans are wondering how much longer he will be president and what a post- Chávez Venezuela looks like. With the president’s health uncertain, members of his party are secretly competing to be his successor, and the country is waiting to see who Chávez names to take over, if he does at all. Chávez’s official plan for his next term, which calls for the consolidation of his socialist revolution, is made public. Meanwhile, the opposition denounces Chávez for the decision not to open an election center in Miami, forcing more than 20,000 Venezuelans to travel to New Orleans to vote. It also criticized the president for his recent TV broadcast featuring new arms manufactured with Russian assistance, accusing him of a “psychological war.”
Up against younger rival, Venezuela’s Chavez exhibits energy as he launches re-election bid, The Washington Post
President Hugo Chavez sang, danced and gave a marathon speech at the launch of his re-election bid, offering a preview of a campaign in which he is likely to push his limits trying to show Venezuelans he is emerging from cancer’s shadow.
Chavez: back to form?, The Financial Times
Say what you like about his face looking puffy, perspiry and palid as he registered his candidacy for Venezuela’s October presidential elections on Monday, but at the stump Hugo Chávez looked like his good old tub-thumping self.
Hugo’s last hurrah, The Economist
A year ago Hugo Chávez had a “baseball-sized” tumour extracted from his pelvic region. In February he needed another operation, after the (still officially unspecified) cancer returned.
Venezuelans consider the unthinkable: a government without Chávez, The Washington Post
For more than three hours, he towered before the crowds — bombastic, fierce, funny, singing songs and promising that rigid socialism would upend the American-style capitalism he abhors.
Chávez Forces Venezuela to Contemplate a Void, The New York Times
President Hugo Chávez is the undisputed, 24-7, one-man show of Venezuelan politics, its be-all and end-all. He makes laws on his own, with the stroke of a pen.
Venezuelans wonder who would replace Chavez Washington Post
As President Hugo Chavez battles a cancer that has sidelined him for much of the past year, a group of loyal associates has stepped into the spotlight, sparking speculation across a polarized political landscape over who could replace the fiery leader should his condition force him from office.
Chavez lays out socialist aims in re-election bid, Associated Press
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has presented his country with a plan to deepen his push for socialism and entrench his movement in power as he runs for another six-year term amid questions of whether he will overcome cancer.
Voting hurdles: Venezuelans in Miami must travel to NOLA to vote for president, Christian Science Monitor
This is Venezuela: A somewhat dysfunctional country in South America led by a religious-like leader known as Hugo Chavez, who leads a “cult” called Bolivarianism.
Ex Defense Minister: The ring of democracy is not the rifle but vote El Universal
Former Minister of Defense Raúl Salazar labeled as “psychological war” a meeting on obligatory simultaneous TV and radio broadcast between Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez and the high military command.