State governor Henrique Capriles won Venezuela’s first-ever opposition presidential primary Sunday by a wide margin with 62% of the vote. 30 percentage points ahead of Zulia state Gov. Pablo Perez. Venezuela’s election is October 7, 2012.
“He’s going to be the candidate who can get us out of this giant hole we’re stuck in,” said Carmen Gloria Padilla, a 66-year-old telephone company employee who voted for him.
Some of Capriles’ supporters said they think he has a good chance of winning over Venezuelans who otherwise might lean pro-Chavez because he campaigned on issues instead of personal attacks, promising solutions to problems including a 26% inflation rate and one of the highest murder rates in Latin America.
Chavez remains a hero to many of his supporters and ‘maintains a visceral connection’ to a significant segment of the poor in Venezuela. To woo the suffering poor, Chavez is campaigning on increasing government spending on new social programs that offer cash benefits for the poor, public housing, and transportation infrastructure.
Where have I heard this before? The vacuous socialist political Left, otherwise referred to as the Obama administration.
Link: Venezuela’s opposition chooses youthful governor to challenge Chavez in presidential election
