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Venezuela’s marathon man looks to run down Chavez
Soaked by rain and perspiration, Henrique Capriles retreated reluctantly inside his campaign bus as the horn-blowing, flag-waving convoy crept through the pot-holed streets of the slums of Maracaibo, Venezuela’s second city.
A late evening tropical thunderstorm had finally forced him from his place atop a pick-up truck after a typical 12-hour day of rapturous rallies and rock-star receptions for the dashing 40-year-old opposition leader.
Undeterred by the downpour, the exuberant crowds outside chanted his name as firecrackers erupted in the pitch-darkness that is graphic testimony to the failure of the country with the world’s largest oil reserves to deliver electricity to its own poor.
In Venezuela’s presidential elections on Sunday, Mr Capriles faces one of the toughest challenges in global politics – defeating Hugo Chavez.
The socialist autocrat dominates the airwaves and is tapping the state’s deep oil coffers to fund his campaign and “buy” votes with a calculated explosion of investment in populist social programme in the weeks before the vote.
But despite its energy riches, the country is mired in debt and unemployment as state-imposed price and exchange rate controls shackle the economy. And violent crime is so endemic that Caracas has the unenviable ranking of the murder capital of the world.
Now, with the long-divided opposition united for the first time behind a charismatic state governor who is already a veteran of Venezuela’s rough-and-tumble politics despite his youthful years, President Chavez is facing his most serious competition at the ballot box since he came to power in 1998.
AvgDude
September 30th, 2012
I hope this guy has first rate bodyguards, because anyone who knows the left, knows they will stop at absolutely nothing to get power and hold onto it. If Chavez’s people get a chance to murder this man, they will.
apple pie
September 30th, 2012
@ avgdude: bingo!
apple pie
September 30th, 2012
off topic a bit:
I have always believed that the ONLY reason that Dick Morris is still breathing is because BJ and
the treasonous lesbian know that there are numerous incriminating recordings buried safely in many, many spots across the globe.
Anything happens to Dick and they go viral.
Stranded in Sonoma
September 30th, 2012
Chavez won’t kill him. He doesn’t have to. He’ll just makes sure that vote fall for himself. This way, he gives the proles some hope right up to “election” day.
Sure, many people will say they didn’t vote for Chavez but who’s to know? It’s a perfect plan to keep liberalism/socialism in Venezuela without having to kill the opposition like they do in most typical socialist countries.
Stranded in Sonoma
September 30th, 2012
that *the vote falls* for
Sheesh! More coffee.
66chevelle
September 30th, 2012
Iran has too much invested in Chavez and Venezuela for this brave man to win. If we had a pro-American President we’d be doing everything possible to support Capriles and kick the damned Persians out of our hemisphere. Chavez woould have been “One and Done” if Reagan was President.
hanoverfist
September 30th, 2012
Dead man running.
Chuck U Farley
September 30th, 2012
When all the votes are ‘counted’ it will be 500 million for Chavez & 1,000 for Capriles.
…just like America, as long as DemonRats are doing the counting.
Dark Lord Soros has invested wisely getting many states to have Demonrat Secretaries of State elected. They’re the ones that certify State election results. As soon as they get a count they want, they certify the election. That’s how dimbulb Al Franken won in Minnesota.