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Jun
18
2012
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Venezuela’s Chavez rejects poll debate, irking rival

Reuters
June 18, 2012
By Andrew Cawthorne
  • Chavez says would be “ashamed” to debate Capriles
  • Opposition candidate chides presidents for insults
  • President retains double-digit lead in poll
Hugo Chavez Henrique Capriles Venezuela 300x168 Venezuelas Chavez rejects poll debate, irking rival

Courtesy of: Reuters

CARACAS, June 18 (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez ruled out on Monday holding a pre-election debate with opponent Henrique Capriles, saying he would be “ashamed” to measure himself against such a “non-entity.”

Stepping up the rhetoric in the polarized South American nation’s run-up to the Oct. 7 vote, Capriles replied that Venezuelans were tired of the socialist leader’s stream of insults.

Battling a recurrence of cancer that has kept him off the street, Chavez, 57, leads most major opinion polls by a double-digit margin and officials are exuding confidence of a comfortable re-election win.

Capriles’ camp, though, insists some polls are skewed, many Venezuelans are scared of expressing their real opinions, and their grassroots campaigning is beginning to make headway.

Asked at a news conference if he would be prepared to debate Capriles, Chavez replied: “I’d be ashamed because what you have there is nothing … I’d have liked to face a heavyweight, not a non-entity.”

Since Capriles, a center-left young state governor, won the opposition coalition’s primary in February, Chavez has not mentioned him by name, preferring to use a stream of insults including “pig” and “loser”.

Capriles has sought to focus his campaign on Venezuelans’ daily problems – crime, unemployment and stuttering social services – rather than be drawn into a rhetorical fight.

Yet he responded sharply on Monday to Chavez’s latest salvo.

“The candidate of backwardness could never debate with anyone, he only knows how to insult and discredit people – a worn-out and tedious speech,” he said via Twitter.

LATEST POLL GIVES CHAVEZ 17-POINT LEAD

Capriles also mocked the president’s comments this week about seeking to send a second Venezuelan satellite into space with Chinese help, saying he should first resolve more pressing issues of ill-equipped hospitals and crime.

“Will our people’s problems be resolved putting a satellite into orbit? Will they do away with violence from outer space?”

The latest opinion poll, published by local company Hinterlaces on Monday, gave Chavez 51 percent of voter intentions versus 34 percent for Capriles.

Though that was a fall by two percentage points for Chavez from his showing in the same pollster last month, it still represented a formidable gap for the opposition.

Chavez appears to have won considerable sympathy for his cancer, while his popularity among the poor remains high due to heavy spending on welfare projects and his personal charisma.

Despite his cancer treatment, the president has been increasingly active in the last two weeks, appearing more frequently on state media and attending several events in person. He addressed Monday’s news conference of the ruling Socialist Party by telephone, however.

Capriles, who by contrast projects an image of youth and energy, is drawing large crowds on his daily visits to remote corners of Venezuela and is promising a Brazilian-style “modern left” government should he unseat Chavez. (Editing by Philip Barbara)

To read this article on Reuters, please click here.

 
Jun
18
2012
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What’s Next Venezuela Election Update: June 18, 2012

VENEZUELA articleLarge v21 What’s Next Venezuela Election Update: June 18, 2012

Courtesy of: Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

Hugo Chávez formally registered his candidacy for president of Venezuela last week in his first major public appearance in months. Analysts closely watched the event in which Chávez gave a long speech, despite showing signs of his poor health. But regardless of this attempt to tamp down rumors of his ailing health, many Venezuelans are wondering how much longer he will be president and what a post- Chávez Venezuela looks like. With the president’s health uncertain, members of his party are secretly competing to be his successor, and the country is waiting to see who Chávez names to take over, if he does at all. Chávez’s official plan for his next term, which calls for the consolidation of his socialist revolution, is made public. Meanwhile, the opposition denounces Chávez for the decision not to open an election center in Miami, forcing more than 20,000 Venezuelans to travel to New Orleans to vote. It also criticized the president for his recent TV broadcast featuring new arms manufactured with Russian assistance, accusing him of a “psychological war.”

Up against younger rival, Venezuela’s Chavez exhibits energy as he launches re-election bid, The Washington Post

President Hugo Chavez sang, danced and gave a marathon speech at the launch of his re-election bid, offering a preview of a campaign in which he is likely to push his limits trying to show Venezuelans he is emerging from cancer’s shadow.

Chavez: back to form?, The Financial Times

Say what you like about his face looking puffy, perspiry and palid as he registered his candidacy for Venezuela’s October presidential elections on Monday, but at the stump Hugo Chávez looked like his good old tub-thumping self.

Hugo’s last hurrah, The Economist

A year ago Hugo Chávez had a “baseball-sized” tumour extracted from his pelvic region. In February he needed another operation, after the (still officially unspecified) cancer returned.

Venezuelans consider the unthinkable: a government without Chávez, The Washington Post

For more than three hours, he towered before the crowds — bombastic, fierce, funny, singing songs and promising that rigid socialism would upend the American-style capitalism he abhors.

Chávez Forces Venezuela to Contemplate a Void, The New York Times

President Hugo Chávez is the undisputed, 24-7, one-man show of Venezuelan politics, its be-all and end-all. He makes laws on his own, with the stroke of a pen.

Venezuelans wonder who would replace Chavez Washington Post

As President Hugo Chavez battles a cancer that has sidelined him for much of the past year, a group of loyal associates has stepped into the spotlight, sparking speculation across a polarized political landscape over who could replace the fiery leader should his condition force him from office.

Chavez lays out socialist aims in re-election bid, Associated Press

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has presented his country with a plan to deepen his push for socialism and entrench his movement in power as he runs for another six-year term amid questions of whether he will overcome cancer.

Voting hurdles: Venezuelans in Miami must travel to NOLA to vote for president, Christian Science Monitor

This is Venezuela: A somewhat dysfunctional country in South America led by a religious-like leader known as Hugo Chavez, who leads a “cult” called Bolivarianism.

Ex Defense Minister: The ring of democracy is not the rifle but vote El Universal 

Former Minister of Defense Raúl Salazar labeled as “psychological war” a meeting on obligatory simultaneous TV and radio broadcast between Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez and the high military command.

 
Jun
18
2012
Posted by
admin
Comments

What’s Next Venezuela Election Update: June 18, 2012

VENEZUELA articleLarge v21 What’s Next Venezuela Election Update: June 18, 2012

Courtesy of: Meridith Kohut for The New York Times

Hugo Chávez formally registered his candidacy for president of Venezuela last week in his first major public appearance in months. Analysts closely watched the event in which Chávez gave a long speech, despite showing signs of his poor health. But regardless of this attempt to tamp down rumors of his ailing health, many Venezuelans are wondering how much longer he will be president and what a post- Chávez Venezuela looks like. With the president’s health uncertain, members of his party are secretly competing to be his successor, and the country is waiting to see who Chávez names to take over, if he does at all. Chávez’s official plan for his next term, which calls for the consolidation of his socialist revolution, is made public. Meanwhile, the opposition denounces Chávez for the decision not to open an election center in Miami, forcing more than 20,000 Venezuelans to travel to New Orleans to vote. It also criticized the president for his recent TV broadcast featuring new arms manufactured with Russian assistance, accusing him of a “psychological war.”

Up against younger rival, Venezuela’s Chavez exhibits energy as he launches re-election bid, The Washington Post

President Hugo Chavez sang, danced and gave a marathon speech at the launch of his re-election bid, offering a preview of a campaign in which he is likely to push his limits trying to show Venezuelans he is emerging from cancer’s shadow.

Chavez: back to form?, The Financial Times

Say what you like about his face looking puffy, perspiry and palid as he registered his candidacy for Venezuela’s October presidential elections on Monday, but at the stump Hugo Chávez looked like his good old tub-thumping self.

Hugo’s last hurrah, The Economist

A year ago Hugo Chávez had a “baseball-sized” tumour extracted from his pelvic region. In February he needed another operation, after the (still officially unspecified) cancer returned.

Venezuelans consider the unthinkable: a government without Chávez, The Washington Post

For more than three hours, he towered before the crowds — bombastic, fierce, funny, singing songs and promising that rigid socialism would upend the American-style capitalism he abhors.

Chávez Forces Venezuela to Contemplate a Void, The New York Times

President Hugo Chávez is the undisputed, 24-7, one-man show of Venezuelan politics, its be-all and end-all. He makes laws on his own, with the stroke of a pen.

Venezuelans wonder who would replace Chavez Washington Post

As President Hugo Chavez battles a cancer that has sidelined him for much of the past year, a group of loyal associates has stepped into the spotlight, sparking speculation across a polarized political landscape over who could replace the fiery leader should his condition force him from office.

Chavez lays out socialist aims in re-election bid, Associated Press

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has presented his country with a plan to deepen his push for socialism and entrench his movement in power as he runs for another six-year term amid questions of whether he will overcome cancer.

Voting hurdles: Venezuelans in Miami must travel to NOLA to vote for president, Christian Science Monitor

This is Venezuela: A somewhat dysfunctional country in South America led by a religious-like leader known as Hugo Chavez, who leads a “cult” called Bolivarianism.

Ex Defense Minister: The ring of democracy is not the rifle but vote El Universal

Former Minister of Defense Raúl Salazar labeled as “psychological war” a meeting on obligatory simultaneous TV and radio broadcast between Venezuela’s President Hugo Chávez and the high military command.