Tag Archives: opponent

Jul
25
2012
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Chavez opponent takes new campaign approach in Venezuela with online forum on Facebook

By Associated Press via The Washington Post
July 25, 2012

Venezuela Opposition.JPEG 00309 Chavez opponent takes new campaign approach in Venezuela with online forum on Facebook

Courtesy of: Associated Press

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles tried a new campaign tool on Wednesday with a live question-and-answer session on Facebook.

The candidate, who is running against President Hugo Chavez in the country’s Oct. 7 election, used the 45-minute video appearance to field questions sent via Facebook and Twitter.

Answering one of the questions, Capriles criticized Chavez’s decision this week to pull out of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, calling it “irresponsible.”

“He doesn’t like them to put limits on him,” Capriles said, referring to Chavez. “This affects those Venezuelans who are left without justice in their country.”

Capriles said that if he’s elected, he would restore Venezuela’s membership in any such international bodies.

He spoke on Wednesday night before an audience in a studio at the Venezuelan television channel RCTV, which Chavez’s government forced off the airwaves in 2007. The government had refused to renew the channel’s license, accusing it of violating broadcast laws and backing a failed 2002 coup against Chavez.

Capriles said if he wins the vote, he would allow RCTV to go back on the air.

Both Capriles and Chavez are active on Twitter, but the live video talk on Facebook was a first for a Venezuelan politician.

Andreina Marquez, who leads online efforts for Capriles’ campaign, said the online forum was a way to “open another channel of participation.”

A poll last month by the Caracas-based polling firm Datanalisis found that Chavez had a 15-point lead over Capriles. The survey, which had a margin of error of 3 percentage points, also found that 23 percent of those polled didn’t express an opinion as to which candidate they would support.

To read this article on The Washington Post, please click here.

 
Oct
5
2010
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Chávez’s opponent rejects statements of Venezuelan ambassador to Spain

This article was originally posted by El Universal

Diego Arria, the former Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations (UN), criticized the statements made by Venezuelan Ambassador to Spain Isaías Rodríguez, who said that Venezuela “has serious doubts” as to whether the confessions of Javier Atristain and Juan Carlos Besance, two ETA members, were voluntary.

“It is apparent that it takes one to know one, and people act according to their behavior in the past in similar circumstances. I extend this consideration to the Venezuelan President,” Arria said in a statement.

The former chairman of the UN Security Council said that he is surprised that the Spanish government has not reacted in the face “of the infamous suggestion made by the Venezuelan ambassador in Madrid, who said in a press conference that prisoners in Spain are tortured or blackmailed.”

Arria added that he is not in campaign against the Venezuelan government.

 
Sep
2
2010
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Jailed Chavez opponent charged, calls case a farce

This article was originally posted by Las Vegas Sun

The leader of a conservative group opposed to President Hugo Chavez has been charged with hiding explosives in his home, allegations he called a farce in comments sent from his jail cell.

Prosecutors announced conspiracy and arms trafficking charges against Alejandro Pena Esclusa on Friday, more than six weeks after he was arrested on July 12.

The attorney general’s office said in a statement that agents who raided his apartment found about 100 detonators and 2 pounds (900 grams) of C-4 explosives.

Officials have linked Pena’s arrest to the capture of a Salvadoran man, Francisco Chavez Abarca, who is accused of helping to organize bombings in Cuba as part of a campaign against the island’s communist government.

Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami has said Chavez Abarca acknowledged plotting violence to disrupt upcoming Venezuelan elections and said he had had contacted some “fascist sectors of the Venezuelan opposition.” But after a few days of interrogation, the government sent him to face charges in Cuba rather than charging him in Venezuela.

Pena, who is jailed in the intelligence agency headquarters in Caracas, said Saturday night in a written response to questions from The Associated Press that “the accusations against me are a farce”.

“The authorities know that very well, because it was the government that orchestrated the case and ordered evidence ‘planted’ in my home,” Pena wrote. He also said police who raided his home stole money, electronic items and other belongings.

Pena’s wife, Indira, has accused authorities of planting the explosives in a drawer of their 8-year-old daughter’s desk.

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