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Saturday's
Lagniappe
Analysis:
Venezuela deeply divided by vote
Reuters
By
Simon
Hooper
Caracas is not so much the city that never sleeps, as the city
that bangs on your window shouting at 3 a.m. But, with a presidential
election just days away, a tone of political hysteria can be
detected amid the constant cacophony of traffic noise and Caribbean
pop.
On
paper, Sunday's vote ought to be a straightforward victory for
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez over his main challenger, Manuel
Rosales, the governor of the oil-rich state of Zulia.
Most
polls put support for Chavez, seeking to extend his eight-years
in government by another six years, as high as 60 percent. Yet
this election is far from straightforward. While the presidency
may be the prize, campaigners on both sides claim the soul of
the country is at stake.
For
years, wealthy and poor have lived in uneasy proximity in the
capital of this oil-rich country.
From
luxury apartment blocks and the chaotic slums of the barrios
the privileged and the poverty-stricken stare out at one another
across an unbridgeable economic and social chasm. Now that divide
is the frontline along which the electoral battle line has been
drawn.
Never
one to shy from controversy or confrontation, Chavez has promised
to press forward with his "Bolivarian Revolution"
if re-elected, a process which has poured resources into the
barrios, bringing healthcare and education to millions of Venezuelans
for the first time. He has even vowed to dedicate a victory
on Sunday to Cuba's ailing leader, Fidel Castro.
To
his opponents though, Chavez is a dangerous demagogue intent
on undermining free speech and establishing a Cuban-style one-party
state who must be stopped at all costs.
"Chavez
is like a snake-charmer," Alfonso Marquina, a leading opposition
politician, told CNN.
"A
great communicator -- and a great liar also. This government
is exclusive and discriminative. Chavez is not a democrat; he
doesn't care about having a diversity of opinion."
On
successive days last weekend, supporters of both Rosales and
Chavez rallied peacefully in their hundreds of thousands --
both sides claimed millions -- in Caracas in a powerful display
of the level of popular involvement in this election.
Yet
the reality is that Sunday's vote, whatever the outcome, is
only likely to further polarize a nation already dangerously
split.
After
eight years of Chavez's combative style of leadership and in
a country in which family relationships and job prospects are
now influenced by political affiliations, there is no longer
any such thing as an undecided voter in Venezuela.
That
has left workplaces and communities -- especially those caught
between the barrios and the penthouses -- divided. Opponents
of the government accuse it of discriminating against them and
claim that many public workers who signed an opposition-orchestrated
petition demanding a referendum on Chavez's leadership in 2004
were purged from their jobs.
One
woman, who refused to give her name, told CNN she had been "untouchable"
despite signing the petition after 25 years of service in public
administration. But she said her daughter's one-year contract
in a public position had not been renewed and many people were
afraid to openly oppose the government.
"People
are pressed into marching at Chavez rallies," she says.
"They give them their red caps and push them to go. But
a lot of people have changed their minds about Chavez because
he hasn't delivered what he promised and he has divided our
society in half."
Yet
workers for private companies also admit to being pressured
into taking sides by their bosses and colleagues -- against
the government.
"If
you say you don't like politics, people think you are on the
other side," said Carolina Chacon. "People would rather
hide in a big group. If people are quiet and don't say a word
you think: 'Oh, they must be pro-government.'"
Supporters
of the government say opposition concerns over Chavez's style
of leadership are merely the propaganda of a wealthy clique
who have seen political privileges taken from them but still
find a means of expression via the Venezuela's powerful anti-government
private media contemptuous of the president's popularity.
"We're
very sorry that our opponents haven't understood the president's
message, a message of love and a message of reunion," Milarosa
Hernandez told CNN during Sunday's rally. "The president
has given as much as he can to the poor people -- as well as
the rich people -- and we are sorry they don't understand that."
What
will happen after Sunday's vote is anybody's guess but, with
both sides warning their supporters to be vigilant against electoral
fraud and corruption, one thing that seems certain is that neither
side is likely to accept defeat -- or indeed victory -- graciously.
Simon Hooper
is
a journalist and wrote this article for CNN from Caracas.
Petroleumworld not necessarily share these views.
