The simian king is losing, God willing
As IBD asks, is he man enough to accept defeat?
All signs are pointing to a public turning its back on dictator Hugo Chavez and his failed 13 years of socialism. The big question coming up on Oct. 7 is whether he'll accept defeat.
As if there wasn't enough turmoil elsewhere in the world already, bubbling up from Caracas is the prospect of a violent explosion over a hotly contested election where Hugo Chavez is facing his strongest challenge ever.
Vote for Chavez or "expect a civil war," Chavez told voters last week, which is pretty much the tone of the campaign now. As for his challenger, Henrique Capriles Radonski, Chavez said the latter could be expected to leave this election "on a stretcher."
Maybe that's because anyone subscribing to Capriles Radonski's Facebook or Twitter feed can see daily signs of Chavez's challenger's tremendous popular support — pulling in million-strong crowds at times, often from Venezuela's poorest shantytowns.
The 40-year-old governor of Miranda state has run a disciplined, efficient campaign despite tremendous odds, connecting well with voters even with draconian limits on his media coverage and limited funds.
It stands in sharp contrast to Chavez's unlimited media coverage and capacity to shovel cash, which has nevertheless amounted to a slipshod campaign with all the inefficiencies of his socialism.
On Sunday, huge crowds dotted the cinder block streets of Petare, one of the poorest and most crime-riddled parts of Caracas, and shouted support for Capriles.
Venezuelan sources tell us it looks like a toss-up, but the electoral momentum is clearly with Capriles. While some observers see the race as roughly tied, others say Capriles could win — despite at least one poll showing Chavez with a 13-point lead.
A Venezuelan consultant, who asked to remain unnamed, met with all five of the country's top pollsters Monday and found they all had one common conclusion: Chavez's support is capped at 48% of the vote. [...]
Wouldn't that be a beautiful thing? Chavez and Obama defeated in the same year. The mind reels with ecstasy...
Maybe, just maybe, Hugo's become too much of a drag. Maybe a rich country like Venezuela is tired of being run into the ground by a grotesque clown whose idea of governing is shouting shrill, hollow slogans and wearing lots of red. Maybe even Latrine America has limits on how much of an embarrassing joke it will tolerate. Maybe.
The thing is, Hugo can't even fake respectability, like Lula could. You gotta at least make it look halfway legit.
asombra,
Chavez is not going to give up power even if he losses the election. Right now he's trying to set up Capriles by tying him to some campaign scandal going on by getting the National assembly to open an investigation on Capriles.
I won't be surprised if he tries to disqualify or undermine Capriles just before the election. Look what he did years ago to Rosales, the last person to go against him in an election.
Chavez controls all power in Venezuela (the congress and the courts) and will use this power to perpetuate his presidency.
I have been saying for quite some time that unless Chavez dies from that cancer (he supposedly has) the only choice for the people of Venezuela to free themselves from him is to revolt and overthrow his tyranny (masked as a democratic elected government). Everything in Venezuela is a facade to distract the international community and the Venezuelan opposition cannot come to grips with it.
There is no democracy in Venezuela today. Not a glimpse of fair and honest elections and the country as a whole is controlled by a totally corrupted political system bough out by Chavez's petro-dollars. Even influential individuals within the Venezuelan society that don't sympathize with Chavez still play his game because they have been bough out, that simple. No country can ever get ahead under these conditions and it displays what's so wrong with Latrine-America today.
Unfortunately for Venezuela over the last fourteen years Hugo Chavez has squandered the country's petroleum revenues in order to consolidate his power for life. It has worked out very well for him and his mentor Fidel Castro.
Yes, even if most people want him out, he'll never step down gracefully like Pinochet. It may well be too late to vote him out; he won't stand for it.