In this week’s roundup…  The Chávez administration hurled insults at opposition candidate Henrique Capriles following his landslide victory in the primaries; several Jewish groups publicly condemned Chávez’s anti-Semitic remarks against Capriles. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez heads to Cuba to undergo a third operation after doctors found another lesion where his last tumor was removed, stoking speculations about who will succeed Chávez if he is forced to step down.  A new report found that private construction in Venezuela is down 70 percent in the last two years, contributing to the critical housing shortage; Chinese loans drive PDVSA toward bankruptcy; Gold Reserve Inc. concludes oral hearings in ICSID arbitration against Venezuela; and Chávez continues to foster relationships with controversial governments, including Iran and Syria.

Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez faces an uprising at the ballot box, The Washington Post

Henrique Capriles Radonski, a 39-year-old Venezuelan state governor, won a primary election to become the opposition’s candidate against Hugo Chavez in October’s presidential election.

Chavez Media Say Rival Capriles Backs Plots Ranging From Nazis to Zionists, Bloomberg

Venezuela’s state media has accused opposition presidential nominee Henrique Capriles Radonski of offenses ranging from participating in a Zionist conspiracy to joining a Nazi-inspired effort to wipe out blacks and the poor.

El loco’s new foe, The New York Post

The reign of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez faces its worst trouble in years. The normally fractured opposition has suddenly united behind one man, Henrique Capriles Radonski, in the Oct. 7 presidential election.      

Jewish groups decry ‘anti-Semitic’ Venezuelan state media article, CNN

A Venezuelan state media article about Chavez’s chief political challenger drew criticism from the New York-based Anti-Defamation League and the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center last week. 

AJC Decries Anti-Semitic Assaults in Venezuela Presidential Campaign, Market Watch

“If President Chavez wants to convince the world that Venezuela is a democracy, he needs to act now to show that there is no room for willful hate,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris.

Chávez Health Struggle Stokes Political Uncertainties, The Wall Street Journal

New uncertainties about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s health are threatening to spur a power struggle to succeed him among the factions that make up his political movement, and boosting the hopes of a rejuvenated opposition planning for the presidential election this fall.

What Happens Next in Venezuela?, Foreign Policy

What happens if an incapacitated Chávez wins? Or, will a dying Chávez’s anointing of a successor succeed in overcoming a unified and energized opposition for the first time in a decade? Or, will voters, burdened by declining economic conditions and rising crime, opt for a new direction in the face of the uncertainty surrounding Chávez and the lack of a legitimate standard-bearer for his movement?

The republic vs. Chávez, The Miami Herald

You multiply it by 2.5 or 3 — depending on whom you ask. That’s how you usually translate the votes from the primaries into the final election results. Electoral experts insist that the three million votes obtained by Henrique Capriles in the Venezuelan primaries could bring him between 7.5 and nine million votes in the balloting against Hugo Chávez. Enough to remove him from power.

Private construction drops 70% in the past two years, El Universal

The president of the Venezuelan Construction Chamber, Juan Francisco Jiménez, stated that private construction has dropped 70% in the last two years. The situation was described as serious by the businessman leader, who said that the construction industry is necessary for the country’s development.

Thousands Of Homeless An Election Issue For Chavez, NPR

Oil-rich Venezuela is awash in hundreds of thousands of homeless. Many find places to live where they can — in half-finished shopping malls or under the grandstand at a race track. The huge number of homeless has become an election issue for President Hugo Chavez, who is seeking his fourth, six-year term.

Chinese loans put Venezuela over barrel, The Washington Times

Opposition groups in Venezuela are warning that billions of dollars in Chinese loans are driving the state oil company toward bankruptcy.

Gold Reserve Announces Conclusion of Oral Hearings in ICSID Arbitration Against Venezuela, Business Wire

Gold Reserve Inc. announces that the oral hearings held at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., and presided over by a three-member tribunal in the arbitration conducted under the auspices of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes concluded, as scheduled, on February 17, 2012.

As Others Isolate Syria, Chávez Ships Fuel to It, The New York Times

A day before the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn President Bashar al-Assad of Syria this month for his bloody crackdown on the uprising in his country, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela was conducting a very different kind of diplomacy on his own.

Iran and Venezuela, BFF, The NY Daily News

At a time when the world is rightly focused on the Iranian nuclear threat and its intentions against Israel, it is also important to not lose sight of that country’s clandestine dealings in Latin America. Its activities there serve multiple purposes. None of them is benign.