Hugo Chavez (left) will face Henrique Capriles (right) in the October presidential election. 

The Colombian newsmagazine Semana recently published a cover story entitled "Chavez's challenger" saying that the defeat of Hugo Chavez in the upcoming presidential election is likely. 

In a lenghty article about opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, the magazine stated that the confidence of Venezuela's opposition "has skyrocketed, and national and international analysts agree that President Hugo Chávez can be turned out of office through elections." The notion of a Chavez defeat, "which was deemed unthinkable until some time ago, is not at all absurd," the article added.

The article went on to say that "nobody foresaw the significance of Capriles' victory" in the recent primary elections.

The magazine noted that "Capriles was the least anti-Chávez candidate. From the ideological point of view, his profile has been apparently based on his political convenience," the weekly magazine noted.

CARACAS - Sunday's opposition primary election to choose a single candidate to run against Hugo Chavez in the October 7th presidential election showed a massive turnout, which election observers are speculating could be as high as 2.2 million.  

The overwhelming turnout could portend a difficult race for Hugo Chavez this fall. Chavez has already begun setting up special programs to benefit favored constituencies in order to win their votes and to try to maintain voter motivation, as Venezuela's supermarket shelves continue to go empty after Chavez price controls and nationalizations have devastated markets and driven out international investors. 

The opposition Unified Democratic Panel (MUD) said that the turnout far exceeded expectations, with 1.7-2.2 million Venezuelans casting ballots. That size turnout is 10-13% of all registered voters.

The non-partisan youth voter organization Voto Joven (Youth Vote) provided information on the massive turnout, and noted that those numbers are likely to increase after the Electoral Commission tallies up final numbers for polling stations with extended voting hours.

Henrique Capriles, the governor of the State of Miranda, won the primary with over 60 percent of the vote. He will face Hugo Chavez in the presidential election on October 7th.

Venezuela's opposition on Sunday elected Henrique Capriles Randoski as their presidential candidate. Capriles, who won 1,806,860 out of the 2,904,710 ballots counted, will face President Hugo Chávez in the presidential elections to be held on October 7. 

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (left) and opposition candidate Pablo Medina (right).

CARACAS - Venezuelan opposition candidate Pablo Medina delivered an affidavit to the Organization of American States (OAS) on Monday warning of the possibility that Hugo Chavez may execute what is known in Latin America as a "self-coup." A self-coup is when the sitting president dissolves the current congress and usually the supreme court, suspends elections, and basically declares an emergency situation in order to avoid being voted out of office. 

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (left), with his fellow ALBA leader Raul Castro (right), Cuba's current dictator who succeeded his older brother, Fidel.
 

CARACAS - The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, better known by its acronym "ALBA," strongly condemned the current violence in Syria on Sunday. But the ALBA group wasn't condemning the slaughter of civilians by the Assad dictatorship, but violence that it said was being committed by "irregular groups supported by foreign powers." 

The ALBA group, which consists of Latin America's far-left led countries Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua and a handful of Caribbean countries dependent on Venezuelan oil, made the pronouncement at its eleventh summit held in Caracas, Venezuela. 

The statement said, "the member countries of ALBA condemn the violence armed rebel groups supported by foreign powers have unleashed against the Syrian people," and also expressed the desire for a "return to calm" and "an atmosphere of peace."

 
A Caracas consumer shops in vain for household staples, while the Venezuelan government proposes more price controls.

CARACAS - Polling analysis from a range of firms has consistently shown that neither policy positions nor even a candidate's personal charisma carries the most weight with Venezuelan voters. The most impactful element of electoral campaigns has consistently been monetary and "in-kind" handouts.

Foreigners often ask Venezuelans how Hugo Chavez remains popular after driving foreign investment away, ruining the economy, and making Venezuela a laughing stock within the hemisphere. Polling data shows that the answer is nothing more than money - money from State oil coffers delivered into the hands of favored constituencies of Chavez.

Every election year, Chavez has increased his "missions," projects for the poor, and has brought in container loads of Chinese household appliances that he sells in Chavista neighborhoods at subsidized prices.

When a Chavista candidate was defeated by an opponent's slogan, "Go get your free microwave, then vote for me!", the tactic appeared to be on the verge of backfiring. To compensate, Chavez has had to become more stealthy in his vote-buying methodology.

Venezuela: pictures of armed children that support the government causes a stir | Translation from InfoBAE.com

CARACAS - Venezuela's attorney general Carlos Escarrá, a close ally of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, has died of a heart attack in Venezuela. 

Known as the "Lawyer of the Revolution," Escarrá was appointed by Hugo Chavez in 2011 as Venezuela's attorney general, and was a member of Venezuela's United Socialist Party of Venezuela. 

Escarrá was a committed leftist, stating in a 2010 TV interview with Globovision that the word "communism" originated from early Christians, and added that, "If someone says that communism is evil, then Christ was wrong, the apostles were bad."

Escarrá claimed to be fully supportive of Hugo Chavez's "21st Century Socialism," and stated that  "socialism is a stage of transition to communism."

He explained that within the PSUV Party, all ​​substantive discussions on the country's issues were made collectively, and added that, "Once a decision is made, we support it collectively (...) I am part of a political project."

 
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez's health condition may be far more grave than his government is reporting.

CARACAS - Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has between nine and twelve months to live if he continues to refuse the necessary treatment for his cancer, according to a confidential medical report obtained by Spain's ABC news agency.   

The confidential report states that Chavez has so far refused to accept more intense cancer treatment, because it would force him to temporarily leave his presidential duties, according to the latest medical examination by specialists who are treating him.

From the medical tests that were administered December 30th, doctors concluded that "his health seems to be deteriorating at a faster pace, clearly there has been metastases into the bones and spinal cord."

Venezuelan operative Livia Acosta gives a solidarity fist pump to the Bolivarian Revolution.

CARACAS - The Miami consulate that serves as a governmental affairs liaison to thousands of Venezuelan expats living in the Southern United States will be shut down, according to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez in an announcement on Friday. After Venezuelan diplomat Livia Acosta was recently expelled after a Univsion documentary played a recording of her conspiring with susected terrorists and radicals from Iran, Cuba and Mexico, that were allegedly plotting cyberattacks on U.S. installations, Chavez announced that he would not expel a U.S. diplomat in return, but would shut down the consulate "while we assess the situation."

A subsequent report revealed documentation that showed that Acosta was also a member of Chavez's secret police, and that her rise to a diplomatic post came in just eight years after starting out as a leader of Chavez's violent and illegal Bolivarian Circles, then subsequently receiving intelligence training in Cuba, before moving up the ranks to become a diplomat in the United States. 

 
Chavez and Ahmadinejad (left), with Miami Consul Livia Acosta. Acosta was uncovered as plotting against US targets for 
terrorist cyber attacks. 

Lapatilla.com is reporting that, by means of a diplomatic note from the US Department of State the U.S. government has declared "persona non grata" the Consul General of Venezuela in the city of Miami, and given her 72 hours to leave the United States. The diplomatic note is dated January 6, 2012.

Gen. Henry Rangel Silva (left) is decorated by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

CARACAS - Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced on Friday that he was appointing Gen. Henry Rangel Silva as the new Minister of Defense. Rangel Silva, a longtime ally of Chavez in the Venezuelan military, has been accused by the U.S. of having links with terrorist groups, as well as being heavily involved in narcotrafficking operations.

Chavez has made several announcements in recent days about who will replace a number of ministers in his government, as well as who will be named as candidates in regional elections in December.

This week, Chavez announced the appointment of Diosdado Cabello, a close ally, as president of the National Assembly. He also announced that Cabello would be accompanied by two other members of the ruling party, leaving no room for opposition representation at the head of the legislature.

The appointment of Rangel Silva has raised concerns within the U.S. more than the other appointments, because the U.S. Treasury Department named him and another senior Venezuelan official, Hugo Carvajal, as "drug kingpins," who are accused of contributing materially to drug trafficking activities of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC ). Both men have denied the accusation.

The socialist government of Chavez, a staunch critic of U.S. foreign policy, immediately rejected the accusations, as it has done every time a member of his administration is accused of collaborating with the Colombian guerrillas.

 
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez (left) threatened to arrest former Uribe 
advisor Jose Obdulio Gaviria (right) if he entered the country to assist opposition.

CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to arrest Jose Obdulio Gaviria, the former presidential adviser during the administration of Alvaro Uribe, if he entered Venezuela on a planned trip to meet with opposition leaders inside the country.

Gaviria had planned a trip to Chacao, in the State of Miranda, to consult with the mayor of the town on security in the region. But on Saturday, Chavez threatened both Gaviria and Alfredo Rangel, a security analyst, with jail if they entered Venezuela.

CARACAS — During a speech on Saturday, Venezuela's autocratic president Hugo Chavez announced that he was replacing his military intelligence chief, General Hugo Carvajal, one of his most trusted security chiefs.

Carvajal was also one of three Chavez confidantes that were named by the U.S. Treasury Department as having aided the Colombian FARC terrorist group in its narcotrafficking and arms trafficking operations. 

 
President Barack Obama (center left) jokes with Venezuela's Hugo Chavez (center right) at the 2009
Summit of the Americas in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

CARACAS, Venezuela – President Obama issued rare criticism of Venezuela's anti-American despot Hugo Chavez, saying that the U.S. is "concerned" about the Chavez regime's rights record and its links to Iran and Cuba. 

In an interview with the Venezuelan daily El Universal, Obama said that the U.S. government is concerned that Chavez's actions "have restricted the universal rights of the Venezuelan people, threatened basic democratic values, and failed to contribute to the security in the region."

Some have speculated that Obama, who in his 2008 campaign touted his willingness to meet with despotic leaders without preconditions, may be feeling pressure either from congressional Republicans that have focused on Chavez and his allies since taking control of key committee posts, or from the upcoming presidential election.

Venezuelans line up to pick through garbage at Ciudad Guayana's landfill, dumped from a government 
trash truck emblazoned with "Socialist Beautification Plan."
 

CAMDEN, NJ - Citgo, an American subsidiary of Venezuela's state-run oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), said in a press release that it has relaunched its fuel subsidy program for Americans on Tuesday for the seventh year, despite earlier controversy.

According to the press release, Citgo was planning to give heating oil to over 400,000 recipients in the United States in 2012. "We do not want families to need to choose either keeping their homes with heating or paying other bare essentials, such as food or medicines," Citgo President Alejandro Granado stated. 

CARACAS - In what some analysts see as an indication that Hugo Chavez may be worried about his reelection chances in 2012, Venezuela's Minister of Petroleum and Mining, Rafael Ramírez, told reporters today in Vienna that OPEC members should reduce oil production.

"As long as Libyan oil production is recovering, the countries that increased oil production should reduce their current output," Ramírez told journalists at the 160th OPEC meeting to be held tomorrow to decide on output quotas of oil. 

The move would drive up world oil prices and provide the Venezuelan government with money needed to generate votes for the upcoming election. 

Chavez faces what may be his toughest reelection in October of 2012, with a unified opposition that is holding a primary to choose one candidate, rather than split the vote among several candidates. 

With Chavez battling cancer, and an economy that is failing amidst socialist price control measures and fleeing foreign investment, opposition to Chavez has grown over the last year.

The Venezuelan president's only means of maintaining electoral support of over 50 percent in past elections has been to spread money and subsidized appliances to favored voting precincts in the months leading up to elections.

MONTEVIDEO - The Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Moshe Yaalon, said today in an interview with EFE in Montevideo, Uruguay that Iran is developing, with the help of Venezuela, a "terrorist infrastructure" in Latin America to attack the U.S., Israel and its allies.

"The idea is to build a terrorist infrastructure that is latent for a while and then later could attack U.S. interests or the United States" or "Israelis or Jews or any other country that opposes their political stance " he said.

Yaalon's diplomatic trip ended in a visit to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he met with the vice-president, Danilo Astori, among other authorities. Yaalon gave as an example of this theoretical strategy the alleged plot to attack the Saudi ambassador to the United States that was recently uncovered.

"This type of terrorist infrastructure, which acted in 1992 against the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires and in 1994 against the Amia Jewish mutual association, has happened before", he said.