I dunno who I like here, frankly. I’m a lefty and everything, but Chavez is way too Bonapartist-presidentialist – which is a Latin-American tradition, I suppose, but a revolution should not be about one guy, and only an egomaniac would stay in this after a cancer diagnosis.
Honestly, it’s hard for me to imagine Capriles having much of a chance. Even if elections are fair, Chavez’s control over the media gives him far too much influence.
I watched this documentary by John Pilger a while back.
I also watched this interview with Chomsky. I know a Venezuelan guy on another forum for whom Chavez is intolerable (and prison conditions there do seem draconian, per his description). Chavez also has pretty reactionary views on video games.
Well, I was being a bit presumptuous in that characterisation. As it stands, he doesn’t want to return to a world without video games, just one without violent video games.
I recall Chavez is also down on any celebration of Halloween in Venezuela, as an instance of Yankee cultural imperialism. Well, of course it is, but lighten up, Hugo! :rolleyes:
OTOH, I don’t think it likely he’ll live to finish another six-year term. Venezuelans and the world had better start thinking about Life After Hugo. Specifically, does this “Bolivarian Revolution” have enough on-the-ground momentum to survive him, or not?
I have to mention that I’m on the record that I only tolerate Chavez as most of the opposition still looks to turn the clock back on even the reforms the people supports.
And one reason for the tolerance is that once again, like Voltaire would say, the enemies of Chavez are stupid.
They just repeated the maneuver that relied on early unreliable exit polls and counted on compliant media to repeat what they claimed.
I usually like to look at how media sources behave in cases like this, and predictably the right wing media in Venezuela reported on that early bit that some exit poll outfit had reported a Chavez loss, and over here woo woo right wing sites like the Dailycaller.com did so too, but it is interesting to look at “slightly” more serious media. On a previous election “The Independent” of the UK took the bait, but this time they were careful, but not so Business Insider
As before, this item is important IMHO as it shows the levels some sources are reaching to incite violence to further their aims.
It is important to notice that even though the opposition lost by ten % points, it was closer than in previous elections, IMHO it was close because Capriles did promise that many of Chavez reforms would continue, but it seems that the people then also thought that then it would be better that Chavez should be one to continue making those reforms.
Just like before, I would prefer to see soon a different candidate from the left to put the clownish and ugly baggage that Chavez has away. (The current Vice President is an intellectual and I would had preferred to see him as president rather than Chavez, but I suspect that many over in Venezuela did keep in mind the uncertain health of Chavez and also liked his vice President.)
