In this week’s roundup…Multiple outlets report that President Chávez will face his sternest political test this year, as the opposition is poised to unite behind a single candidate for the first time in the President’s 13 years in power; Henrique Capriles Radonski, the governor of Miranda and member of the Primero Justicia (Justice First) party, has emerged as the clear favorite in Sunday’s primary. Meanwhile, Chávez continues to ramp up government spending; Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA plans to increase its exports to China and to begin a joint oil venture with Russian energy giant Gazprom.
Venezuela’s presidential campaign: Mano a mano, The Economist
FOR the moment, Henrique Capriles has reason to be confident. The governor of Miranda state is the front-runner in the Democratic Unity (MUD) coalition’s primary, due on February 12th.
Overcoming the Chávez Derangement Syndrome, The New York Times
On Sunday, Venezuela’s opposition goes to the polls to choose, for the first time in Hugo Chávez’s 13 years in power, a single, uncontested leader to run against him in next October’s presidential election.
Venezuela faces tough political fight, The Financial Times
If Hugo Chávez’s 10-hour state of the nation address to Congress last month didn’t reassure the Venezuelan president’s supporters he was recovered from cancer, his contemptuous put-down may have done.
Venezuela Central Bank Transfers $1B To Chavez Development Fund, The Wall Street Journal
Venezuela’s central bank is continuing its bankrolling of the country’s large spending plans ahead of the October presidential elections with $1 billion already transferred this year to a controversial off-budget discretionary fund controlled by President Hugo Chavez.
Small-Town President, The New York Times
Where Venezuela’s coastal mountains give way to its vast inland plains you find Parapara, a sleepy village of colorful colonial-era houses that’s blighted by poverty.
United Opposition A Challenge To Venezuela’s Chavez, NPR
The opposition to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has tried everything to end his long rule: huge protests, a coup and an oil strike.
Hugo Chavez says Venezuelan troops would fight with Argentina over Falklands, The Telegraph
Hugo Chavez has pledged that Venezuelan armed forces would fight alongside Argentina against Britain in any future conflict over the Falkland Islands at a regional meeting this weekend.
PDVSA: big talk but can it deliver?, The Financial Times
Although the exact level of Venezuela’s oil production has been shrouded in mystery for almost a decade now, there is no doubt about the OPEC nation’s intentions to increase exports to China.
Venezuela approves oil JV with Russia’s Gazprombank, Reuters
Venezuela has approved the creation of a joint venture between state oil company PDVSA and Gazprombank, a division of Russian energy giant Gazprom, to operate two mature fields in the west of the country.