Chavez Likely To Be Re-Elected In Venezuela

Recent polls show that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is likely to easily win his bid for a third term in the December 3rd elections. Here are the numbers from the latest AP-Ipsos poll:

Hugo Chavez..........59%
Manuel Rosales..........27%
Undecided..........13%

Even thought the American government has tried to undermine Chavez, he still enjoys widespread support in the country. According to the poll, the race is divided along economic/class lines. The rich overwhelmingly support Rosales. The middle class in pretty evenly divided. And the poor overwhelmingly support Chavez.

Here are some other interesting items from the same poll:

61% say Venezuela is moving in the right direction.
63% approve of Chavez's administration.
59% approve of Chavez's handling of international relations.
63% have a negative view of George Bush.
55% have a negative view of the United States.
79% consider Venezuela's political system to be democratic.

Perhaps most interesting is how the people split on what kind of economic system they prefer -- capitalist or socialist. The poll showed:

37% favored a socialist system.
22% favored a capitalist system.
33% favored a mixture of the two systems.

Many in the Bush administration have tried to portray Chavez as a dictator. But the truth is that Chavez is an elected leader of his country. In fact, he was elected and re-elected by far wider margins than George Bush, and it looks like that is going to happen again.

With these kind of numbers, it looks like Chavez is going to be around for a while. Maybe it is time for the U.S. government to stop treating Chavez as an enemy, and see if we can find some common ground on which to rebuild our relationship with Venezuela.

We have enough enemies overseas, without creating new ones in our own hemisphere.