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Apr
12
2013
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In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 4/12/13

i6QvFtK66Hb8 e1365799638594 In Case You Missed It… Articles Roundup Week of 4/12/13

Courtesy of: Agence France Presse

This week: Interim president Nicolás Maduro, once ahead by double digits, takes a quickly narrowing lead into the presidential election weekend in Venezuela; though many thought he was a long shot, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles may indeed have what it takes to defeat Venezuela’s socialist establishment; this election presents the ultimate test for the late Hugo Chávez’s 21st century socialism, something that not lived up to its leaders’ promises; if elected, Capriles wants to improve ties with the United States and other nations. The campaign between Capriles and Maduro has been anything but boring; Maduro continues to churn out ridiculous conspiracy theories, in hopes they will deter attention away from the real issues Venezuela has faced under his and his predecessor’s leadership; Willie Colón, a Bronx-born salsa performer with Puerto Rico ties, releases a new song targeting Maduro; 40 student protestors participating in a hunger strike to promote a fair election were attacked by radical Chávez and Maduro supporters; to combat the increase of kidnapping cases, Venezuelans are banding together to create informal insurance societies to pay off ransoms; Capriles and Maduro end a hotly-contested yet short campaign season each with large rallies; a “reckoning” approaches for Venezuela, as the economy is set to suffer even more in the coming year; despite being one of the most oil rich countries on the planet, Venezuelans still struggle to find the most basic necessities; power shortages also remain a focus for Venezuelan voters, as many blame the current government for ignoring the problem and not taking the necessary steps to deal with the issue. Meanwhile, Maduro is poised to go after Venezuela’s most successful private company, Polar; the Venezuelan government continues to struggle against the inflation and shortages its economic policies have created; meanwhile, a new bill under consideration may increase expropriations and further marginalize Venezuela’s dwindling private sector.

Maduro Takes Narrowing Lead Into Sunday Vote, The Associated Press

Red-shirted backers of Hugo Chavez’s chosen heir transformed downtown Caracas into a raucous festival on the final day of campaigning for the weekend presidential election, flooding the streets Thursday in the hundreds of thousands to dance, drink beer and set off ear-splitting fireworks.

Can Henrique Capriles Defeat Venezuela’s Socialist Establishment?, ABC News

His presidential campaign has been viewed by many as a long shot, or described as an impossible dream. But on Sunday, as hundreds of thousands of people jammed the streets of Caracas to hear him speak, Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles assured his ecstatic supporters that he would win the country’s upcoming election.

Venezuela election to test Chavez’s socialist legacy, Reuters

The late Hugo Chavez’s self-declared socialist revolution will be put to the test at a presidential election on Sunday that pits his chosen successor against a younger rival promising change in the nation he polarized.

Venezuela’s Capriles Wants Better Ties With U.S. If Elected President, Fox News Latino

Cutting off subsidized oil to Cuba, distancing his country from nations that disrespect human rights and shoring up the South American country’s own troubled economy with the billions it now sends abroad to socialist friends are some of the thing that Venezuelan presidential candidate Henrique Capriles has promised if elected.

Say again? Venezuela’s presidential candidates trade barbs, zingers in animated campaign, Fox News

Venezuela’s animated campaign ahead of its April 14 presidential election has seen its share of shake-your-head remarks by both candidates: Interim President Nicolas Maduro of the ruling party, and opposition candidate Henrique Capriles.

Plots and sabotage: Chavez candidate spins conspiracy theories ahead of Venezuelan election, The Washington Post

Salvadoran mercenaries are plotting with Venezuela’s opposition candidate to assassinate interim President Nicolas Maduro.

Star Hurls Musical Barbs Before Venezuela’s Vote, The New York Times

Political campaigns in Venezuela often can seem like a battle of the bands. Songs written for the campaigns blast from huge speakers at rallies and from the backs of trucks that drive around cities where candidates appear.

Radical Socialists Attack Student Protesters in Venezuela, ABC News

A group of 40 students that is currently on hunger strike to demand fair elections in Venezuela was attacked on Monday night by alleged supporters of Venezuelan interim president, Nicolas Maduro.

Venezuelan Ransom Funds Hedge Against Kidnaps as Candidates Spar, Bloomberg Businessweek

Venezuelans are banding together to create informal insurance societies to pay off criminals in case of kidnapping as violence soars and moves to the forefront of voters’ priorities before the April 14 presidential election.

Venezuela’s bitter campaign ends with big rallies, Global Post

Venezuela’s acting President Nicolas Maduro tearfully vowed to complete Hugo Chavez’s socialist revolution Thursday while rival Henrique Capriles promised change at emotional rallies to close their bitter campaign.

The reckoning after Venezuela’s election, The Washington Post

AN INTREPID Venezuelan tweeter has been keeping track of the number of times that Nicolas Maduro, the country’s interim president, has mentioned Hugo Chavez on television or radio since the caudillo’s death on March 5.

In Venezuelan election, food security – or lack thereof – can turn votes, USA Today

Venezuelans complain that what goes into their Sunday dinner plate comes from abroad: Steak, from Brazil; plantains, the Dominican Republic; rice, South Africa; Parmesan cheese, Uruguay; oats, Chile. Even coffee, in a country famed for it, often is Colombian.

Power Shortages Become a Hot Topic in Venezuela’s Presidential Race, ABC News

Venezuela’s interim president Nicolas Maduro launched his presidential campaign in Hugo Chavez’s home state of Barinas hoping that when voters head to the polls this Sunday they will identify him with the deceased socialist leader.

Venezuela goes after Polar, Financial Times

The Hugo Chávez years went well for Polar, Venezuela’s biggest privately owned company, which did solid business despite all the president’s radical socialist rhetoric.

Venezuela to Hold New Dollar Auction After Election This Month, Bloomberg

Venezuela will hold a second dollar auction on a complementary currency system created last month after presidential elections are held on April 14, Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told reporters yesterday during an interview.

Draft Law in Venezuela Is the Private Sector’s Death Knell, The Huffington Post

On April 4, acting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced he had uncovered a “conspiracy” to destabilize the government in order to lend support to his opponent in the upcoming elections, Miranda Governor Henrique Capriles Radonski.

 
Oct
3
2012
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Capriles continues to rise in latest polls

AP Henrique Capriles Capriles continues to rise in latest polls

Courtesy of: AP / Getty Images

In the 14 years Hugo Chávez has ruled Venezuela, he has never before faced a political challenge like the one he will confront on October 7. Despite the president’s enormous electoral advantage, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has steadily risen in the polls since the campaign kicked off on July 1. He now holds a slight advantage in several well-respected polls.

Capriles’ success is the result of his campaign based on personal, “retail” politics, a stark contrast with Chávez’s staged events and extended discourses on socialist ideology. The young lawyer and former governor, mayor, and youngest ever president of the now defunct Chamber of Deputies has spent the last months on an exhausting town-to-town campaign through Venezuela. Capriles has visited more than 250 towns, speaking to individual Venezuelans about their everyday problems. He also enjoys the support of a united opposition which, for the first time, selected a single candidate to run against Chávez.

The strategy is a departure from the ideological battles that long defined Venezuelan politics. Capriles has instead focused on the crime, scarcity and unemployment that are the scourges of daily life for ordinary Venezuelans. As Chávez continues to extol the moral superiority of his revolution while offering little evidence to support it, Capriles offers solutions to the immediate problems that the nation faces. In doing so he has created personal connections with disillusioned Venezuelans and a strong – and growing – following.

His campaign’s success is reflected in the latest polls. A respected poll released just this week gives Capriles a three-point lead, and another recent poll had his advantage at two. A third puts the opposition 10 points behind, but puts undecided voters at 15 percent, leaving Capriles the opportunity to close the gap in the campaign’s final week.

The deep polarization in Venezuela makes the elections especially difficult to predict, as voters are sometimes unwilling to divulge their intentions for fear of losing their government jobs. Some polls register high numbers of undecided voters, more than enough to cover the widest gap between the candidates. Other polls, meanwhile, are baldly partisan and offer mere propaganda with little basis in real data.

More telling than the polls, perhaps, is the enthusiasm that Capriles is able to generate. Last weekend he attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters to his final campaign march in Caracas. Despite limited access to mass media due to the state control of most of the country’s television stations and an only recently united opposition party, Capriles has managed to inspire Venezuelans in a way that no other candidate has in the past 14 years.

What is certain is that Chávez is in the toughest election battle of his political career. What remains to be seen is whether Capriles is able to turn his rousing campaign into an electoral victory.

 
Oct
3
2012
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Capriles continues to rise in latest polls

October 3, 2012
By What’s Next Venezuela

AP Henrique Capriles Capriles continues to rise in latest polls

Courtesy of: AP / Getty Images

In the 14 years Hugo Chávez has ruled Venezuela, he has never before faced a political challenge like the one he will confront on October 7. Despite the president’s enormous electoral advantage, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has steadily risen in the polls since the campaign kicked off on July 1. He now holds a slight advantage in several well-respected polls.

Capriles’ success is the result of his campaign based on personal, “retail” politics, a stark contrast with Chávez’s staged events and extended discourses on socialist ideology. The young lawyer and former governor, mayor, and youngest ever president of the now defunct Chamber of Deputies has spent the last months on an exhausting town-to-town campaign through Venezuela. Capriles has visited more than 250 towns, speaking to individual Venezuelans about their everyday problems. He also enjoys the support of a united opposition which, for the first time, selected a single candidate to run against Chávez.

The strategy is a departure from the ideological battles that long defined Venezuelan politics. Capriles has instead focused on the crime, scarcity and unemployment that are the scourges of daily life for ordinary Venezuelans. As Chávez continues to extol the moral superiority of his revolution while offering little evidence to support it, Capriles offers solutions to the immediate problems that the nation faces. In doing so he has created personal connections with disillusioned Venezuelans and a strong – and growing – following.

His campaign’s success is reflected in the latest polls. A respected poll released just this week gives Capriles a three-point lead, and another recent poll had his advantage at two. A third puts the opposition 10 points behind, but puts undecided voters at 15 percent, leaving Capriles the opportunity to close the gap in the campaign’s final week.

The deep polarization in Venezuela makes the elections especially difficult to predict, as voters are sometimes unwilling to divulge their intentions for fear of losing their government jobs. Some polls register high numbers of undecided voters, more than enough to cover the widest gap between the candidates. Other polls, meanwhile, are baldly partisan and offer mere propaganda with little basis in real data.

More telling than the polls, perhaps, is the enthusiasm that Capriles is able to generate. Last weekend he attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters to his final campaign march in Caracas. Despite limited access to mass media due to the state control of most of the country’s television stations and an only recently united opposition party, Capriles has managed to inspire Venezuelans in a way that no other candidate has in the past 14 years.

What is certain is that Chávez is in the toughest election battle of his political career. What remains to be seen is whether Capriles is able to turn his rousing campaign into an electoral victory.