Picture of the Day: Is this the next president of Venezuela?
Tens of thousands rally for Manuel Rosales over the weekend.
By AcademicElephant Posted in Contra Tyrannum — Comments (11) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
With two months to go to the presidential election in Venezuela, things are getting interesting.
Read on...
Aleksander Boyd has pictures and first-hand accounts of the massive rallies for opposition candidate Manuel Rosales that have taken place in Caracas and Cantaura over the past few days. It looks like recent polls suggesting a surge in support for Mr. Rosales were accurate, and his message is resonating. Venezuela does not need to abandon a free market system to take care of its disadvantaged citizens. It does not need to bully and threaten to gain international respect. And it is time for the country to get its own house in order before embarking on foreign adventures. Furthermore, voters are no longer afraid to express support for Mr. Rosales, who is finally providing them with a viable alternative to "president" Hugo Chavez.
If you had told me two months ago that there was a snowball's chance in h*** of any opposition candidate running a coherent campaign that so much as got Mr. Chavez' attention, I would have laughed (grimly). But Mr. Rosales has done that and much more. As unlikely as it still is that Mr. Chavez will allow himself to be defeated, it is no longer a foregone conclusion that he will be re-elected. At the very least, it seems he will not be able to credibly claim the mandate of another landslide victory. But all may not be lost for Mr. Chavez--should Mr. Rosales achieve the apparently-impossible and actually win on December 3rd, he might find there's a job opening in Havana...
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Picture of the Day: Is this the next president of Venezuela? 11 Comments (0 topical, 11 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Yes, that is something of a concern.
"I'm kind of old-fashioned. I like to engage my brain before my mouth." Donald Rumsfeld
Will be as quick to certify the election if he wins.
Problem is -- I don't know if Chavez will allw himself to be voted out of power.
has already decided who wins, if you get my meaning "{wink, wink, nudge, nudge} :-)
This guy will live through the election --- and six weeks later will have a mysterious car accident, assuming he hasn't been disappered before the accident can be scheduled.
John
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True, you can sit outside in Paris and drink little cups of coffee, but why this is more stylish than sitting inside and drinking large glasses of whisky, I don't know.
P.J O'Rourke
Since he's done it before, won't Chavez simple steal any election he might otherwise lose? Would I be correct in assuming that Chavez has total control over the electoral logistics and operational supervision?
Perhaps if an independent (perhaps international) entity did sufficiently large scale exit polls, it would be possible to highlight any blatant disconnect between those exit polls and the subsequently reported results. But that would just prove that the "election" was rigged...which wouldn't tell us anything we didn't already know.
Bellinghamster
The answer to that question is yes and no--the voting machine company--Smartmatic--is state-owned, so it's perfectly possible for Chavez to manufacture votes. The problem he will face is in the outside pollsters--if the polls keep showing Rosales gaining ground and there's big voter turnout he's going to have a hard time justifying a landslide win, which is what he wants so that he can re-write the constitution to make himself president "indefinately." Chavez' stock in trade is the aura of overwhelming popular support--if he loses that, he's in a lot of trouble even if he "wins" this election.
"I'm kind of old-fashioned. I like to engage my brain before my mouth." Donald Rumsfeld
I'd bet that Fidel Castro would outlive Manny Rosales.
"Every time some nitwit college student burns a flag on camera, that's one less idiot who can ever run for public office." - Crank
if he doesn't catch a bullet or two.
"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle