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Acting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros leads the other presidential candidates in terms of popularity ahead of the forthcoming presidential election in the Latin American country. According to a poll by the Datanalisis sociological service, slightly over 49 percent of the voters stated that they’d cast their ballot for Maduro. Some 35% of those polled say they’d vote for the opposition leader, Henrique Capriles Radonski. This presidential election was called following the death of Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías on 5 March. The election is due on 14 April.
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Venezuela’s Acting President and top contender for the presidency, Nicolás Maduro Moros, pledged to stay the course of the Bolivarian Revolution if he wins next month’s election. Speaking on Monday, Maduro said that on April 14 his supporters were bound to score the biggest victory in the country’s entire history.
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Two candidates registered to run for the presidency in Venezuela, Hugo Chávez’s successor Nicolás Maduro Moros, and opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski. Both have a bit more than a month to attract as many supporters on their side as possible. Snap presidential elections in Venezuela shall occur on 14 April. The previous presidential elections in Venezuela took place October 2012. Then, Sr Chávez, who was diagnosed with cancer, won with an 11 percent lead over his rival Capriles. This time around, the opposition Coalition for Democratic Unity again picked Capriles as its candidate.
Zbignev Ivanovsky, an expert at the Institute for Latin American Studies, said, “Capriles is 40 years old, and was brought up in a Catholic family. He graduated from Andrés Bello Catholic University in Caracas with a degree in law; he’s also a successful businessman… his family owns assets in the media and in the film industry”.
In the 2008 regional elections, he won election as Governor of Miranda state, defeating Chávez supporter and former Vice President Diosdado Cabello Rondón. One should mention that Capriles received this nomination after his party’s defeat in the presidential election. Now, Henrique Capriles is going to compete with interim president Nicolás Maduro Moros. Ivanovsky went on to say, “He’s a very energetic politician. He’s 50, and he’s had a meteoric political career…from bus-driver to Vice President. He was a member of the left-wing opposition party, was a trades union activist, and took part in writing the Venezuelan Constitution. For many years, he served as the country’s foreign minister. Therefore, he’s a very experienced politician. Although he didn’t receive higher education, he has impressive experience”.
Although Capriles enjoys wide support from middle-class Venezuelans, most analysts predict that Maduro would win the election. He’s of working-class background, and has support from ordinary people. Besides, he’s promised to retain Chávez’s policies, which is what many people hope for these days. Chávez’s critics will vote for Capriles.
Aleksei Chernyaev, an expert in American and Latin American politics, said, “As far as Russia’s position is concerned, it’d like to see Maduro as president, as that would guarantee that Venezuela would fulfil previously-reached agreements. However, it would be quite likely that if Capriles becomes president, he would suspend arms deals with Russia”. The presidential campaign has just begun, but the candidates have already exchanged harsh remarks… Maduro called his rival “a fascist”, whilst Capriles promised Maduro a difficult path to the presidential post. The struggle is going to be tough.
Natalya Kovalenko
12/19 March 2013
Voice of Russia World Service
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_19/Maduro-tops-popularity-rankings-ahead-of-elections-in-Venezuela/
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_19/Venezuela-to-stay-true-to-Chavez-legacy-Maduro/
http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_03_12/Venezuela-presidential-race-is-going-to-be-tough/
Voices from Russia 
Venezuela Expels Three American Diplomats in “Sabotage Conspiracy”
Tags: Caracas, Chargé d'affaires, CIA, diplomacy, diplomatic relations, Henrique Capriles Radonski, Hugo Chávez, Hugo Chávez Frías, Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías, International relations, Langley, Maduro, Nicolás Maduro, Nicolás Maduro Moros, political commentary, politics, United States, USA, Venezuela
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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros announced on national television that he’s ordered the expulsion of three American diplomats for allegedly plotting acts of sabotage in conspiracy with “far-right” opposition groups. Speaking in a public address Monday, Maduro gave Chargé d’Affaires Kelly Keiderling, the top American diplomat in Caracas, and two other embassy officials, 48 hours to leave Venezuela, whose economy has been troubled by power outages and food shortages. Maduro said that he had evidence that the American diplomats frequently met with the “Venezuelan far-right” to finance it and “encourage actions to sabotage the country’s electrical grid and economy. I can’t allow them to interfere in Venezuela’s internal affairs and I ask for your full support in this struggle against the interference. Yankees go home, get out of Venezuela!”
Venezuela and the USA have been without mutual ambassadors since 2010, and Caracas toughened its anti-American rhetoric following the death of Venezuela’s outspoken leader Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías in March. Maduro, chosen by Chávez as his successor, expelled two American military attachés for alleged attempts to destabilise the country just a few hours prior to the official announcement of Chávez’s death from cancer on 5 March. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan opposition claims that the leftist government uses “foreign interference” as a smokescreen to hide their own inability to handle the country’s ailing economy, wide-spread corruption, and rampant crime.
1 October 2013
RIA-Novosti
http://www.en.rian.ru/world/20131001/183872654/Venezuela-Expels-3-US-Diplomats-in-Sabotage-Conspiracy.html
Editor’s Note:
Given the dirty nature of Langley’s involvement in the region, one can’t blame Maduro for doing what he did. Oh, yes… Capriles, America’s fair-haired boy in Venezuela… his father was a lickspittle Quisling, an executive for an American multinational, Kraft (Capriles’ family owns apartments on the posh Affluent Effluent Upper East Side in New York and he took courses at Columbia). That is, his wealth came from kissing the Americans’ arse (pecunia non olet in its most disgusting form). Fancy that…
BMD