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Chavez Ready for 3rd Term
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez officially announced the beginning of his re-election campaign in Caracas. Chavez formally registered his candidacy for re-election on Saturday and headed for Cuba Sunday to celebrate the 80th anniversary of President Fidel Castro.
On Saturday, roughly 25,000 people dressed in the red color of Hugo Chavez supporters, filled the square in Caracas near the Central Election Commission. Chavez told the crowd he would rally for the presidency vote slated for December 3.
The Constitution of Venezuela provides for no more than two presidential terms in a row. But Chavez first became president in 1998, i.e. in time of the previous Constitution, so there are no formal hurdles that could prevent the president from this year’s election campaign.
Well-aware of it, the fractured opposition of Venezuela chose a unity candidate past week to oppose Hugo Chavez. It is Zulia's State Governor Manuel Rosales, the most ardent opponent of Chavez social reforms. But exactly those reforms, including using the crude oil dollars to back up public health and eliminate illiteracy are very popular with Venezuela’s poor.
In view of the almost inevitable failure, the opposition could boycott the elections. But this move may have a boomerang effect. They boycotted parliamentary elections past December, and Hugo Chavez consolidated all legislative power in the country. Moreover, Chavez has vowed he won’t tolerate the boycott and rebuff by a social and political counterattack. The previous promise was to hold national referendum in case of boycott and win the presidency mandate up to 2012 as a result, the analysts recalled, signaling the president obviously thinks different now.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 14, 2006
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