Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles has threatened to take action over disputed votes he claims were “stolen” by Nicolas Maduro’s government.

Mr Capriles demanded details of an audit of the vote the electoral council says it will carry out.

Mr Capriles said the council had a “deadline” of Thursday, but did not specify what action he would take.

Mr Maduro won the 14 April election by less than two percentage points.

He was sworn in as president last week, succeeding his mentor Hugo Chavez, who died in March of cancer.

But the opposition cried foul, and tensions in the divided country have reached fever pitch, with the government accusing the opposition of fomenting coup attempts and the opposition accusing the government of “desperate lies”.

Nine people died in post-election protests and both the government and opposition are planning more protests on 1 May.

‘Get serious’

Mr Capriles says the vote was marred by thousands of irregularities, including ... Read More

BY PABLO GARIBIAN

CARACAS - Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro named a new acting head of its U.S.diplomatic mission in Washington on Tuesday and sent an offer of dialogue after attacking the United States for “interference” in a row over his election.

Disputes between Venezuela and the United States were common during Hugo Chavez’s 14-year socialist rule of Venezuela, leaving both nations without ambassadors in each other’s capitals.

Maduro, who won an election this month to replace Chavez after his death from cancer, has wavered between reaching out to the U.S. government and condemning its policies in the same uncompromising terms as his predecessor.

In an address on live on TV, Maduro called for “respect” and “dialogue” while naming Calixto Ortega, an ally and member of Venezuela’s delegation to the Latin American parliament, to the post of charge d’affaires in Washington.

“We want to have the best ties with all the world’s governments, and the U.S. government, but on the basis of respect. There ... Read More

ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO

Si los acontecimientos de los últimos días son muestra de lo que ha de venir, Venezuela está por experimentar un corto pero agitado proceso electoral, con una oposición que hoy luce más aguerrida que en el pasado y un gobierno que teme proyectar una imagen de debilidad tras la muerte de Hugo Chávez.

Y el fantasma de la violencia reapareció el martes, cuando apenas habían transcurrido pocos días de la convocatoria a las elecciones presidenciales, con las denuncias de la oposición de que el gobernador de Miranda, Henrique Capriles, recibió amenazas de “agresiones” antes de inscribir su candidatura.

“La información que tenemos, incluso de cuerpos de inteligencia del propio gobierno, es que se planteaba no solamente una emboscada y saboteo, sino incluso agredir y atentar contra Henrique Capriles”, dijo el jefe de campaña de la oposición, Henri Falcón.

Falcón, quien también es gobernador del estado Lara, declaró que Capriles recibió unas ... Read More

BACK in the 1990s Latin America seemed to have turned the page on military rule and embraced democracy and free-market economics, with the sole, beleaguered exception of communist Cuba. And then along came Hugo Chávez, a bumptious Venezuelan former lieutenant-colonel who, having staged a failed military coup against a democratic government, got himself elected as president in 1998.

Mr Chávez proceeded to dominate his country for more than 14 years until his death this week from cancer. His secret was to invent a hybrid regime. He preserved the outward forms of democracy, but behind them he concentrated power in his own hands and manipulated the law to further his own ends. He bullied opponents, and encouraged the middle class to emigrate. He hollowed out the economy by mixing state socialism and populist redistribution with a residue of capitalism. And he glued it all together with the crude but potent rhetoric of ... Read More

BY LAWRENCE J. HAAS

The death of Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez prompts two questions, the answers to which will have enormous implications not just for his country but for the United States, Latin America, and points far beyond.

First, will the government Chavez left behind conduct a fair election to replace him, which is supposed to occur within 30 days? Second, if the Venezuelan people get the opportunity of a fair election, will they choose wisely? The early signs don’t necessarily point to governmental acquiescence in a free and fair plebiscite.

Chavez’s heir apparent, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, has sought to rally public support by charging that the U.S. was somehow behind the cancer that claimed the boisterous petro-dictator at the age of 58. He also kicked two U.S. military attaches out of the country, alleging they sought to destabilize Venezuela.

Maduro’s outlandish charges smack of the kind of populist demagoguery that Chavez practiced ... Read More

ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO

En la superficie, todos están unidos por el dolor tras el fallecimiento del presidente Hugo Chávez, el indiscutido líder de la Revolución Bolivariana que mantenía unidas las costuras de la disímil colección de intereses encontrados y rivalidades que conforman el chavismo.

Pero parecen ser muchas las patadas que las facciones comenzaron a darse debajo de la mesa, en momentos en que el proyecto revolucionario enfrenta su más dura prueba para sobrevivir tras la desaparición física de un caudillo que diseñó una estructura personalista cuyos componentes giraban a su alrededor.

Fuentes cercanas a la situación dijeron que representantes del chavismo tuvieron fuertes discusiones el miércoles para decidir quién debería asumir la presidencia interina, la que finalmente parece haber recaído en el vicepresidente ejecutivo Nicolás Maduro, aún cuando expertos constitucionales aseguran que la carta magna establece claramente que la designación le corresponde al presidente de la Asamblea Nacional, Diosdado Cabello.

“Fue una reunión ... Read More

Hugo Chávez is dead. The Venezuelan dictator’s battle with cancer that began with a secretive 2011 trip to Cuba ended yesterday, at 4:32 p.m., in a military hospital bed in Caracas. But though the man is gone, the myth remains.

Chávez was a political game-changer. Throughout his 14 years as Venezuelan president, he demonstrated a passion for politics, an unequaled popular touch, and a sense of mission of redemption for the poor and excluded. He had tremendous ambition, as well. He saw himself as the progenitor and patron of a global revolution against “savage capitalism.”

With the “Bolivarian Revolution” and “Socialism of the 21st Century,” he promised Venezuelans a better life, and for many he delivered. As the proverbial soldier on horseback, he also fit into the role of caudillo or strong man that figures so prominently in Latin American politics. He became what social thinker Sidney Hook in The Hero in ... Read More

BY EZEQUIEL MINAYA & DAVID LUHNOW

CARACAS—Shortly before announcing that Hugo Chávez died, Venezuela’s government resorted to one of the late president’s favorite ploys to try to unite his supporters: allege a conspiracy by the U.S. to destabilize the country.

Vice President Nicolás Maduro kicked out two U.S. military attachés for allegedly plotting against Venezuela and even suggested that Washington may have been behind Mr. Chávez’s cancer.

“Behind all of [the plots] are the enemies of the fatherland,” Mr. Maduro said on state television, flanked by the entire cabinet, state governors and Venezuela’s military commanders.

Mr. Maduro said that the U.S. Embassy’s Air Force attaché, Col. David Delmonaco, and another unnamed U.S. military official had approached members of the Venezuelan military and tried to recruit them into plans to “destabilize” the oil-rich South American nation. Mr. Maduro didn’t offer further details on the alleged plot.

Mr. Maduro also suggested that the country’s “historic enemies,” a ... Read More

Por Roger F. Noriega

Durante dos largos años, el equipo medico cubano del líder venezolano, Hugo Chávez, ha perpetrado un engaño colosal al pueblo venezolano y al mundo sobre su batalla contra el cáncer terminal. Según fuentes bien informadas, los médicos cubanos cometieron errores en el tratamiento inicial que probaron ser fatales para Chávez, manipularon su ansiedad y paranoia para que el se conformara a un tratamiento medico deficiente en La Habana y le aconsejaron participar en la campaña electoral a pesar de las repercusiones para su salud.

Claramente, el régimen cubano sacrificó la vida de Chávez para asegurar su propia supervivencia – a sabiendas de que su débil economía depende de la generosidad venezolana. Por desgracia, la interferencia cubana en Venezuela aun no ha terminado – ahora enviarán a la Constitución de Venezuela al quirófano.

El articulo 233 de la Constitución dice, en parte: “Cuando se produzca la falta absoluta del Presidente ... Read More

For two long years, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez’s Cuban medical team perpetrated a colossal deception of the Venezuelan people and the world about his bout with terminal cancer. According to knowledgeable sources, Cuban doctors botched the initial treatment that doomed Chavez, manipulated his anxiety and paranoia so he would settle for substandard medical care in Havana, and pushed him back on to the campaign trail despite the impact on his health.

Quite plainly, the Cuban regime traded Chávez’s life for its own survival – knowing that its bankrupt economy depends on Venezuelan generosity. Unfortunately, the Cubans are not done administering to Venezuela – putting that country’s constitution under the knife.

Article 233 of that charter says, in part, “When an elected president becomes permanently unavailable to serve prior to his inauguration, a new election by universal suffrage and direct ballot shall be held within 30 consecutive days. Pending election and inauguration of the new ... Read More

Con la noticia del fallecimiento de Hugo Chávez se abren un sinnúmero de incógnitas sobre lo que se avecina para el pueblo venezolano y para las ya de por si fracturadas instituciones con las que cuenta.

Después de que el gobierno le ocultara al pueblo venezolano el verdadero estado de salud de Chávez por casi dos años, la verdad por fin sale a la luz: El cáncer venció a Chávez y tanto los cubanos como el círculo chavista no pudieron ocultarlo.

Antes del anuncio de la muerte, el vicepresidente Nicolás Maduro se aventuró a decir que el cáncer de Chávez fue “inoculado” y que el presidente fue “atacado” por “enemigos venezolanos.” Con esta medida busca distraer la atención del pueblo y culpar a los supuestos enemigos de Venezuela.

La sucesión por el poder y la pugna que se dará dentro del círculo chavista podría traer consecuencias aun más graves para los venezolanos. Es bien sabido que ... Read More

ANDRES OPPENHEIMER

La muerte del presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, marcará probablemente el principio del fin de la influencia política de Venezuela en América Latina, pero es probable que su influencia dentro de Venezuela se mantenga durante décadas.

Contrariamente a la suposición generalizada en los medios de prensa internacionales de que Chávez fue el heredero político del otrora líder guerrillero de Cuba, Fidel Castro, es muy posible que el difunto presidente venezolano pase a la historia como un fenómeno político más cercano al del hombre fuerte argentino Juan D. Perón.

Lo mismo que Perón, Chávez fue un oficial de las fuerzas armadas y un maquinador de golpes de estado que coqueteó primero con el fascismo, luego se inclinó a la izquierda, y una vez en el poder dio millones a los pobres gracias a un boom mundial de los precios de las materias primas, lo cual lo distinguió de presidentes venezolanos anteriores que solamente ... Read More

Ambassador Roger F. Noriega discusses the Venezuela transition after the death of President Hugo Chavez.  According to the Venezuelan constitution, Article 233 says Diosdado Cabello, President of the National Assembly, will be acting President of Venezuela and has 30 days to call for new presidential elections.

Where Hugo Chavez was a charismatic whirlwind, his deputy has always come across as just the opposite: a quiet man.

It fell to Nicolas Maduro to announce to Venezuelans that their leader was dead.

President Chavez named his 50-year-old vice-president and foreign minister as his preferred successor following the recurrence of his cancer.

“He is a complete revolutionary, a man of great experience despite his youth, with great dedication and capacity for work, for leading, for handling the most difficult situations,” Mr Chavez said.

Analysts said that by naming Mr Maduro as his successor, President Chavez appeared to be trying to boost the vice-president’s standing ahead of any potential rivals within the “chavismo” political system built up around the Venezuelan leader.

Mr Maduro, a former bus driver with a bushy black moustache, became one of the president’s closest advisers. He was made foreign minister in 2006 and in October last year, following Mr Chavez’s ... Read More

JIM WYSS Y ANTONIO MARIA DELGADO

El presidente venezolano Hugo Chávez, quien emprendió una agitada aventura socialista inspirada en la Revolución de Fidel Castro, falleció el martes a los 58 años, víctima de una ardua batalla contra el cáncer.

El fallecimiento del mandatario introduce al polarizado país sudamericano en una nueva etapa de incertidumbre, en medio de la constante lucha por el poder entre las fuerzas del chavismo y de la oposición. Por el momento no está claro quién deberá asumir el cargo. Según la constitución venezolana, el presidente de la Asamblea Nacional, Diosdado Cabello, debería asumir la presidencia ya que Chávez nunca fue juramentado para su nuevo mandato tras el triunfo electoral de octubre pasado. Sin embargo, no se descarta la posibilidad de que el vicepresidente y canciller, Nicolás Maduro, sea designado. En todo caso, el presidente provisional debería convocar a nuevas elecciones presidenciales dentro de un plazo de 30 días.

Chávez, ... Read More

BY WILLIAM NEUMAN

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela died Tuesday afternoon after a long battle with cancer, the government announced, leaving behind a bitterly divided nation in the grip of a political crisis that grew more acute as he languished for weeks, silent and out of sight in hospitals in Havana and Caracas.

His departure from a country he dominated for 14 years casts into doubt the future of his socialist revolution. It alters the political balance in Venezuela, the fourth-largest foreign oil supplier to the United States, and in Latin America, where Mr. Chávez led a group of nations intent on reducing American influence in the region.

Mr. Chávez changed Venezuela in fundamental ways, empowering and energizing millions of poor people who had felt marginalized and excluded.

But Mr. Chávez’s rule also widened society’s divisions. His death is sure to bring more changes and vast uncertainty as the nation tries to find its ... Read More

El vicepresidente de la República, Nicolás Maduro, anunció desde las instalaciones del Hospital Militar Carlos Arvelo que este martes a las 4:47 de la tarde falleció el presidente Hugo Rafael Chávez Frias.  ”Los que mueren por la vida no pueden llamarse muertos”, expresó.

Maduro dio las gracias a Chávez “desde donde esté” y pidió al pueblo venezolano canalizar este dolor en paz”.

De click aquí para tener acceso a artículo original.

El enfermo de cáncer y líder venezolano Hugo Chávez, fue devuelto secretamente a Cuba el pasado viernes para recibir atención médica de urgencia, de acuerdo con un artículo escrito por el periodista con sede en Washington, Emily Blasco, y publicado hoy por el diario conservador español ABC. Si es cierto que Chávez fue trasladado a La Habana sin haber tomado posesión de su cargo, sería esta una clara señal de que los elementos nacionalistas dentro del chavismo han obstaculizado los planes cubanos para instalar un sucesor sumiso a la causa cubana.

Una lucha por la sucesión en el partido en el poder y una gran inestabilidad podrían estar a la vuelta de la esquina en Venezuela.

Hace sólo dos semanas, los cubanos que han controlado el tratamiento médico de Chávez durante dos años, trasladaron al el líder enfermo de regreso a Venezuela sólo para poder tomar posesión de su cargo. Chávez había ... Read More

Cancer-stricken Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez was returned secretly to Cuba last Friday for urgent medical attention, according to an article authored by Washington-based journalist Emily Blasco, published today by the conservative Spanish newspaper, ABC. If it is true that Chávez was transported back to Havana without having taken the oath of office, it is a clear sign that nationalist elements within chavismo have stymied Cuban plans for installing a compliant successor.

A bruising succession struggle within the ruling party and great instability may be in Venezuela’s immediate future.

Just two weeks ago, the Cubans who have controlled Chávez’s medical treatment for two years moved the ailing leader back to Venezuela just so he could take the oath of office. Chávez had been in Cuba and could not be sworn in to a new term that commenced on January 10; having him take the oath on Venezuelan soil would make his vice president (and Havana favorite), Nicolas ... Read More

Translation by IASW

EMILI J. BLASCO

Hugo Chavez may have been transferred  last Friday morning to Cuba from the Venezuelan island of La Orchila, where he had been for almost a week, because of further deterioration of his condition.  To the surprise of the physicians who care for Chavez, the aim to prolong his life is being motivated by very unusual decisions, according to ABC sources in contact with the physicians.

The trip to Havana on an air ambulance took place after an apparent deterioration of Chavez’s health on Thursday February 28. The lack of certain medical equipment in the revamped presidential residence on La Orchila may  have caused  the return to Cuba. Chavez had arrived at La Orchila almost a week before after it was discovered that a new tumor was affecting 35 percent of his left lung; thus determining that there wasn’t much else to do at the Caracas Military Hospital.

Despite ... Read More