CARACAS, (Reuters) – State governor Henrique Capriles won the Venezuelan opposition coalition’s primary yesterday and will face President Hugo Chavez in an October presidential vote, sources said.
Here are some facts about him:
* Capriles, 39, is governor of Venezuela’s second-most populous state, Miranda, which includes parts of Caracas. The state ranges from the Venezuelan capital’s largest shantytown, Petare, to fishing villages on the Caribbean coast.
* A law graduate, Capriles became Venezuela’s youngest legislator at the age of 26, then won the mayorship of a Caracas municipality before beating a die-hard Chavez loyalist, Diosdado Cabello, to the Miranda governor’s office in 2008. He says that a surprise win against a government heavyweight bodes well for a presidential campaign against Chavez.
* The charismatic and energetic Capriles rides a motorbike and heads into shantytowns most days to supervise projects and talk to working-class voters. Some say he has deliberately cultivated an almost Chavez-like image of being on the street and in constant contact with the poor.
* Capriles’ maternal grandparents fled the Nazis in Poland during World War Two, arriving in Venezuela with just a suitcase stuffed with clothes. “Imagine that some people in the Chavez government are so ignorant they actually call me a Nazi,” he is wont to say.
* His grandparents set up a lucrative cinema business in Venezuela and through them, Capriles once met legendary Mexican comedian Mario Moreno — best known as “Cantinflas.”
* A basketball player and sports lover, Capriles says he relaxes by finding some friends for a game or going for a quiet run after dark.
* Like Chavez, Capriles has been jailed. He was imprisoned for four months on charges of fomenting a protest at the Cuban Embassy in 2002, although he says he was mediating. He was acquitted of the charges at trial, though there is chatter in political circles that they could one day be revived.
* If elected, Capriles wants to copy Brazil’s “modern left” model of economic and social policies. On the campaign trail, he has sought to appeal to traditional Chavez supporters, stressed inclusiveness rather than attacking the president, and urged Venezuelans to “get on the bus” for change.
* A practicing Catholic, Capriles is single despite a torrent of marriage offers via Twitter and Facebook during his campaign for the opposition primary. He jokes that he will find his wife and start a family in his own good time.
* Though describing himself as center-left, Capriles belongs to the Primero Justicia party whose roots are right-wing.
* During the presidential campaign, analysts believe the government will target his wealthy background, association with conservative politicians linked to Venezuela’s traditional elite, and his role in the 2002 Cuban Embassy affair.
* Should he win, Capriles would be Venezuela’s youngest president. He has stressed his youth during the campaign for the Democratic Unity coalition ticket’s presidential ticket, and nearly always wears informal clothes and a baseball cap.
