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...third six-year term in 2012. On the hustings, the former paratrooper insists that only if he stays in Miraflores, the presidential palace, will "the people stay in power." He's taken to ending his rallies with a campaign slogan that anticipates the vote's outcome: "Oo-ah, Chávez no se va!" Chávez isn't leaving...
Most residents of La Silsa hope Chávez is right. Like other poor Venezuelans, they're grateful for the poverty-reduction programs and medical clinics Chávez has lavished on barrios like theirs. The potable water, power lines, subsidized grocery stores, community councils that give average people more political say - they had none of that 20 years ago. Since Chávez's leftist revolution began in 1999, though, Venezuela's oil wealth has been redirected into populist spending programs that keep the poor on side and Chávez in power...
Student leaders say Chávez's offensive against them is a sign of his desperation, since polls show the "yes" and "no" votes in a dead heat. "It's the government that wants to make us fall into violence, not the other way around," insists Mejia. "We're the ones being threatened and harassed." He points to a phone call between two students that was recorded by the government and broadcast on state-run media, as if to show how closely the opposition was being tracked. More disturbing, however, is the violence allegedly visited on anti-Ch...
...students say such incidents are evidence of a larger Chávez failing - the seemingly intractable violent crime plaguing Venezuela today. It's a large reason, they argue, that presidential term limits should remain in place. (Under the present constitution, Chávez's second and final term ends in 2013.) Chávez and his backers insist that he's the only one who can ultimately tackle such crises given how ineffective the opposition is and may yet be for a while...
...latter is true, Chávez's counterattack may have a silver lining for his foes, if not for Venezuela's democracy. Because the opposition relies too much on the students to carry its political water, their diminution could force those parties to become more viable political opponents with real alternative platforms. Like the students, Venezuela's opposition eventually has to grow...