The candidates are now set for the next election in Venezuela (to be held this October). And it looks like it will be another classic left versus right choice for that country's voters (unlike the United States where there is no real left-wing choice).
The current president, Hugo Chavez (pictured above on the left), announced a couple of days ago that he will run for a third term. He attended a large rally of his supporters outside the electoral office in Caracas -- and demonstrated his good health by singing and dancing with his supporters. He has been recovering from cancer treatments he received in Cuba, but the treatments are over now and Chavez says he is in good health.
Chavez told his supporters (as he registered for the election), "I give this to you with a promise to fight, to battle, and of course to win. It has been a difficult year. I thank God for this life. . .We have been the victims of a psychological war, with people announcing my death several times when I was in Cuba."
I expect his opponents will try to use his health as a campaign issue. He is still very popular in Venezuela (having won his previous elections by large majorities), and has to be considered the frontrunner at this time. His opponents will need every issue they can find to defeat him.
The candidate opposing him in the coming election is right-winger Henrique Capriles (pictured above on the right). Capriles stepped down as governor of the state of Miranda last week so he could run for president. In the past, right-wing candidates have been pro-business and anti-social programs. Capriles says he is different, and will offer a balance between business and social programs (but he has not spelled out just which social programs he would support, and which he would not support).
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NOTE -- For those of you that would like to learn some more about what it's like in Venezuela, I would recommend the excellent book, Socialist Dreams And Beauty Queens by Jamie Maslin. Maslin's perspective is not marred by either American or Venezuelan propaganda, and presents as honest a portrait of the country as possible. The book is published by Skyhorse Publishing in New York City.
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(NOTE -- This is post #10,000 on this blog.)
Remember, this is the same Hugo Chaves who said that Condoleezza Rice would behave better if she were sexually assaulted, and that the Jews ("christ killers") were responsible for the evil of the last 2,000 years.
ReplyDeleteHe is the worst type of fascist.
Chavez is not any kind of fascist. He's a socialist. Capriles is the fascist.
ReplyDeleteThough we shouldn't paint all socialists with the Chavez brush (as I'm sure some would like to).
ReplyDeleteBut hey, congratulations on post #10,000, Ted! Hope to join you there someday!
~Shaun
Thanks Shaun. I look forward to reading your 10,000th.
ReplyDeleteBut don't put too much stock in what the American media says about Chavez. He's not perfect -- no man is. But he's the best thing that's happened to Venezuela since Simon Bolivar.