Nine days remain before the Venezuelan elections and everyone is focused on whether opposition candidate Henrique Capriles will be able to turn his successful campaign into an electoral victory. Polls have shown his support consistently rising, while President Hugo Chávez’s conspicuous decrease in public appearances raises concerns about his health and his supposedly “cured” cancer. After 14 years of Chávez rule, many Venezuelans have switched sides because they are disillusioned with the president and his policies which have resulted in rampant inflation and crime, scarcity of everyday goods, and a housing shortage. Chávez has tried to counter these sentiments with massive pre-election spending, leaving the country’s international reserves at five-year lows. Meanwhile, Venezuelans in Miami, who overwhelmingly support the opposition, are going to great lengths to help voters travel to the polling station in New Orleans.
The autocrat and the ballot box, The Economist
ON SEPTEMBER 12th a queue of stationary vehicles kilometres long blocked the coastal highway that leads out of Puerto Cabello. “Politics,” said a resident, wearily, by way of explanation.
The Challenger, New York Times
Even on TV, the energy of the crowd comes through. The opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski is ripping into his stump speech, and the townspeople in the city of Maturin, in Eastern Venezuela, are eating it up: “Today,” he bellows, “I want you to think about your problems, and think: Has the government brought solutions to your problems?!”
In Venezuela, Capriles looks for an upset, Foreign Policy
The days preceding a presidential election are usually full of interesting story lines. In chaotic Venezuela, however, the narrative seems more jumbled than one would expect.
Venezuela Election Fuss: Polling Gaps, The Wall Street Journal
Venezuelan polling firms are painting starkly different pictures of the coming presidential election: One group shows President Hugo Chávez comfortably ahead, while another shows a tight race. The divide confuses voters and investors alike ahead of the Oct. 7 poll, in which the nearly 14-year incumbent hopes to win a new six-year term.
Narrowing Gap in Venezuelan Election, Fox News Latino
Venezuelans have been barraged with widely varying poll results ahead of the October 7 presidential election. The one thing that is clear is that, after nearly 14 years in office, President Hugo Chavez will face a strong rival for the first time.
Chávez Rival Rises in Venezuela Polls, The Wall Street Journal
Venezuelan opposition politician Henrique Capriles is gaining ground on President Hugo Chávez two weeks before a presidential election in this highly polarized country.
Some former allies ditch Chavez in Venezuela vote, CBS News
Liliana Carias used to hope President Hugo Chavez would change her life. Not anymore. She’s been living for years in a dirt-floor shack without running water, and after voting for Chavez in the last three presidential elections, the single mother of four said she’s tired of waiting for help.
Will Venezuela’s Pandemic of Crime Destabilize Hugo Chávez’s Regime?, Time
The three gangbangers are holed up in a small hut deep in the lush overgrowth of San Casimiro, a town two hours south of Caracas – and they’ll be there for the foreseeable future.
Venezuela’s pre-election spending spree saps exchange reserves, Financial Times
Is it a coincidence that Venezuela’s foreign exchange reserves hit a five-year low less than three weeks before presidential elections due on October 7?
Chavez Miami Foes Hire Planes to Vote in Venezuela Race, Bloomberg Businessweek
Alicia Rodriguez so dislikes President Hugo Chavez, and blames him for making her native Venezuela unsafe, that the 80-year-old retiree is flying 1,300 miles from her adopted home in Miami to cast a vote against him.
