CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s opposition challenger Henrique Capriles sought to deflect attention from a corruption row by throwing the accusation back at President Hugo Chavez yesterday in an escalating political brawl ahead of the Oct 7 vote.
Already in an uphill fight to end Chavez’s 14-year socialist rule of the South American OPEC member, Capriles’ camp suffered a setback on Thursday when government lawmakers released a video of an aide taking cash in dubious circumstances.
Capriles immediately fired the aide, Juan Carlos Caldera, and tried to turn the incident in his favor by saying that he – unlike Chavez – would not tolerate any whiff of misconduct within his team.
“If this government and its candidate took on corruption, they’d have no ministers left,” Capriles told a rally.
Transparency International ranks Venezuela as the second-most corrupt nation in the Americas, after Haiti.
Opposition critics revel in tales of Chavez allies who in a matter of years have moved from slums to plush homes and bought yachts and luxury cars.
Government officials constantly try to link Capriles with the pre-Chavez era during which politicians for decades pocketed oil revenues while poverty deepened.
At a rally in western Lara state, Capriles mocked Chavez for the lofty contents of his election manifesto. Its goals include deepening socialism, striving for a “new international geopolitical” dynamic, and helping to “save” mankind.
“They want to save the human race … (but) where do they propose the solution to the problems you are living with every day? They don’t mention them because this government is worn out,” Capriles said, holding a copy of Chavez’s manifesto.
“Where’s the solution to the electricity problem? Where’s the solution to the water problem, the public services?” he asked, referring to power cuts and other day-to-day problems.
Capriles, a 40-year-old state governor who says Brazil’s mix of capitalism and strong social welfare programs is his economic model, seeks to project an image of youth, energy and attention to grassroots problems.
He wants to end Chavez’s statist economics – especially the nationalization program – and his alliances with anti-US governments like Syria, Iran, Belarus and Cuba.
Chavez, 58, who has outwitted the opposition time and time again since taking power in 1999, is promising Venezuela’s 29 million voters to extend his socialist crusade, spread oil wealth and overturn historic injustices.
Most of the best-known pollsters put Chavez ahead by 10 points or more. But opinion polls are notoriously controversial and divergent in Venezuela.
