Courtesy of: Reuters

This week:  With the presidential elections nearing, Venezuela’s “precampaign” season is off to a roaring start, with Interim President Nicolás Maduro enjoying uncontrolled access to state media; on the campaign trail and beyond, Maduro’s gimmicks reach a new level of absurdity, even for Venezuelan politics; opposition leader Henrique Capriles casts this election a war between “good vs. evil,” as he is faced with the underdog label; and Transparency International continues to document the continued  abuse of state resources for political purposes in Venezuela. Despite government promises that vigorous growth would take place in Venezuela, the economy  showed signs of slowdown in 2012; Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA’s 2012 revenue slips 0.2 percent, despite an increase in oil prices; surrounded by secrecy, the Venezuelan government offers $200 million during its first auction on a new foreign currency system; however, the nation’s failure to disclose exchange rate in Venezuela currency auction prompts Barclays Capital to suggest a strong devaluation of the local currency for the second time in two months; and Maduro threatens creators of a popular website that provides transparency about currency exchange rates, ordering their indictment and jailing. Mismatches between UNESCO figures and “education miracles” claimed by the Venezuelan government are revealed; at the UN Human Rights Council, Maduro is the sole leader to side with the Syrian Government of Bashar Al-Assad; Alfredo Romero, a human rights advocate, reports that around 4,500 people have been killed under the 100 day rule of Maduro; and in a effort to further inject the name and legacy of Chávez into the upcoming election, a Venezuelan-run TV station releases an ad of Chávez in heaven.

Venezuela’s precampaign season off to a roaring start, The Christian Science Monitor

Let’s recap of the first seven days of non-campaign campaigning, or in criollo doublespeak: pre-campaña.

Venezuela’s presidential campaign is devolving into a spectacle, Foreign Policy

Nicolás Maduro, the interim president of Venezuela, held a campaign rally the other night, where his supporters held up an oversized check — similar to those used on game shows — symbolically made out to “the people of Venezuela.”

Capriles: Venezuela campaign a war of good vs evil, AFP

Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles raised the rhetorical stakes Sunday, casting his campaign against interim president Nicolas Maduro as a spiritual struggle of good versus evil.

Venezuela: The State as Election Campaign Headquarters, Transparency International

When is a presidential election free and fair?  During the 2012 presidential campaign in Venezuela, the Alerta Electoral bulletin recorded numerous instances of public resources being used to support the president’s successful election campaign.

Venezuelan economy shows signs of slowdown, El Universal

After the Venezuelan economy gained 5.5% over the last quarter of 2012, the economic cabinet promised that throughout this year, vigorous growth would take place, but actual results are flashing warning signs.

Venezuela’s PDVSA revenue slips on domestic fuel sales, Reuters

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA’s 2012 revenue slipped 0.2 percent from the year before despite an increase in oil prices as the company sold more fuel on the subsidized domestic market, the oil minister said Friday.

Venezuela launches first auction of new forex system, Reuters

Venezuela offered $200 million to local businesses on Monday in the first auction of a new foreign currency system that will bring another partial devaluation of the bolivar.

Barclays Capital: Blinding Sicad exchange rate hints strong devaluation, El Universal

Venezuela’s Ministry of Planning and Finance briefed on Wednesday on the outcome of the first foreign currency auction through the Ancillary Foreign Currency Administration System (Sicad).

Venezuela interim president Maduro takes on currency exchange website, Miami Herald

Venezuela’s interim president, Nicolás Maduro, came out Tuesday fighting the acute depreciation of the bolivar against the U.S. dollar by ordering the indictment and jailing of the creators of lechuga.com, a popular website that thousands of Venezuelans consult everyday to check currency exchange quotes in the parallel market.

Mismatch between actual figures and “education miracles” claimed by gov’t, El Universal

On Saturday, March 16, during the posthumous tribute to President Hugo Chavez by groups involved in government-sponsored welfare programs, known as missions, Vice-President of the Social Area and Minister of University Education Yadira Córdoba announced that the Robinson Mission had been a pathway to literacy for 1,756,250 people.

Nicolás Maduro and the Gorillas, Latin American Herald Tribune

Venezuela just showed off spectacularly at the United Nations Human Rights Council: It cast the only vote, out of 47 members comprising the entity, to side with the Syrian Government of Bashar Al-Assad, the most repudiated genocidal leader for having led his country to a civil war with a death toll of over 70,000 dead people, hundreds of thousands wounded and a far-reaching physical and economic devastation.

HR advocate: 4,500 people killed in Venezuela under Nicolás Maduro, El Universal

Lawyer and human rights advocate Alfredo Romero underscored that some 4,500 people have been killed in the first 100 days of acting President Nicolás Maduro’s government.

Venezuelan state-run TV shows Chávez in the afterlife, The Miami Herald

Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez may be gone but he’s among revolutionary friends. An animated spot being broadcast on state-run television shows the socialist firebrand, who died March 5, looking morose as he walks through a grassy field.