This week: As Venezuela’s October 7 elections approach, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles spends time speaking to Venezuela’s poorest, a demographic that Chávez has long dominated; Hugo Chávez’s prolonged illness and absence from the spotlight has some wondering whether his party is preparing contingency plans for the elections, including delaying or canceling them entirely, and possibly an alternative candidate, such as Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro. Similarities between Chávez and Putin prompt a columnist to wonder why the Venezuelan president receives less international criticism. Meanwhile, investors continue to devalue Venezuela’s debt, which is increasing at record pace due to Chávez’s election-year spending. The increased spending has also helped hide the shrinking private sector in recent GDP numbers. Venezuelan carmakers expect production to decline for the fourth consecutive year due to a lack of dollars available from the government. Finally, recent violence in a Caracas prison exposes deeply rooted corruption, violence, and drugs within Venezuela’s prison system.
Hugo Chávez’s Enemy No. 1, Businessweek
In the ramshackle town of Anaco in eastern Venezuela’s oil-rich Anzoátegui state, three yellow-shirted bodyguards rush a trim, perspiring, boyishly handsome 39-year-old in a baseball cap from house to shabby brick house through 500 cheering, flag-waving fans. Most in the throng are visibly poor, some are young women with tears of joy running down their cheeks. All are sweaty under a hot April sun.
Chavez opponent wants to be a uniter, CNN
He is running against one of the world’s most recognized presidential strongmen, but Henrique Capriles, the governor of the Venezuelan state of Miranda, exudes confidence.
Venezuela analysts cast doubt on presidential election, The Miami Herald
Is the Venezuelan government laying the groundwork to delay or even suspend the Oct. 7 presidential elections due to President Hugo Chávez’s failing health?
In Venezuela, top diplomat steps into the void while cancer forces lower profile for Chavez, The Washington Post
After nearly a year of cancer treatment that has forced President Hugo Chavez to step back from the spotlight, a burly former bus driver with a dark mustache and affable smile is emerging more than ever as the president’s stand-in.
Chávez vs. Putin, The New York Times
He came to power in the late 1990s, his energetic governing style ushering in an era of increasing prosperity that earned him plenty of goodwill. Luck also helped some: his rule coincided with an era of rising oil prices, and he used the petrodollars that flooded the state’s coffers to finance a dizzying consumption boom throughout the country.
As Chavez Resurfaces, Venezuela’s Debt Plunges, The Wall Street Journal
Signs that President Hugo Chavez has no intentions of backing down from Venezuela’s upcoming presidential elections, despite his battle with cancer, are putting a damper on the country’s red-hot sovereign debt.
Venezuela’s GDP grows amid sustainability worries, The Financial Times
If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then “chavistas” (followers of Hugo Chávez) are from Mercury and their opponents are from Neptune.
Domestic debt up USD 40.6 billion in four months, El Universal
A Venezuelan government immersed in the election campaign has resorted to the largest spending ever over the past five years.
Outlook of automotive industry cools, El Universal
Growth expectations in the automotive industry were revised downward in 2012. Once again, delays in authorizations of US dollars by the Foreign Exchange Administration Commission (Cadivi) are present.
In Venezuela’s prisons, inmates are the wardens, Global Post
A cloud of marijuana bounces along with the bass line from a stack of six-foot high speakers in the corner of this large hall, its smell infused with that of urine.