Victory in honor of Fidel

Hugo Chavez leads Venezuela again

The current President of Venezuela, 52-year-old Hugo Chavez, won a landslide victory in the presidential elections held on Sunday. Having received 61.35% of the vote, he retained the presidency for another six years, to which he was first elected in 1998. His rival, the governor of the oil-producing state of Zulia, 53-year-old Manuel Rosales, admitted defeat on Sunday evening. Only 38% of voters supported him.

Late in the evening, thousands of Hugo Chavez's supporters gathered in the rain outside the presidential palace to congratulate their idol on his re-election. From the balcony, Chavez announced that he was dedicating his victory to the 80th anniversary of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, whom he considers his spiritual father. “The election victory is another blow to US President George W. Bush, the devil who seeks to dominate the world,” Chavez said and proclaimed a new stage in the construction of “Venezuelan socialism of the 21st century.”

Deputy Director of the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vadim Teperman explained to Vremya Novostey that the socialism that Chavez promises to build in Venezuela has nothing in common with Marxism. “His slogan is that the main thing is not the state, but the people. It relies on the poorest layers of citizens, for whom it builds cheap houses and subsidizes food prices due to the influx of petrodollars. He introduced a free education system and creates new jobs. Manuel Rosales clearly tried to seize the initiative from Chavez by promising significant cash benefits to every poor person. But he only promised, and Hugo Chavez is already doing all this,” noted Mr. Teperman.

Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez appeared on the political arena in 1992. He led a military coup aimed at overthrowing Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez. Chavez intended to create a military-civilian junta from among people free from corruption, and also to convene a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution. The rebellion was suppressed, and Chavez spent two years in prison. He was pardoned in 1994 and returned to politics. Under the slogan of fighting corruption, Chavez won the 1998 presidential election. He established tight control over the state oil company and channeled windfall profits into the construction of hospitals and schools, the implementation of agrarian reform and the eradication of illiteracy.

“As long as oil prices remain high, Chavez’s position will be strong,” Vadim Teperman noted to Vremya Novostey. The scientist believes that with the re-election of Chavez, there will be no fundamental changes in his policy. Relations with the United States are also unlikely to worsen: “For all his radicalism, Chavez is well aware that Venezuela receives most of its income from oil exports to the United States and, unless he reduces supplies, relations will remain at the current level. To a large extent, all of his reforms and even anti-American rhetoric are paid for with American petrodollars. Washington is also unlikely to remove Chavez by force - the United States needs Venezuelan oil.” American human rights activist Jesse Jackson, who met with Chavez, told the Associated Press that the Bush administration should take advantage of Chavez's election victory to reduce tensions between the countries: “The United States and Venezuela need each other.”

Venezuela's relations with Russia will develop over the next six years of Chavez's rule, not limited to military-technical cooperation. “After the signing of agreements on the purchase of Russian weapons by Caracas, Gazprom and LUKOIL joined the negotiations, offering assistance in the exploration and development of oil and gas fields. This is beneficial for Caracas and Moscow,” believes Vadim Teperman.

Victor VOLODIN