Word: chavez
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...doubts that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is a brilliant politician. But the controversial leader who loves to pick fights with the U.S. has also been a fortunate one - not just because he's presiding over the highest crude prices his oil-producing nation has ever enjoyed, but also because his opposition has proven to be one of the most incompetent and fractured in the hemisphere...
...large degree by leftovers from the corrupt political class that once had a lock on power, they tried and failed to wrest power from Chavez with a coup d'etat in 2002 and a nationwide oil strike that paralyzed the country later that year. They only seemed to deepen their hole when they lost a 2004 referendum to oust Chavez and then boycotted parliamentary elections last year - a blunder that allowed Chavez allies to take 100% control of Venezuela's National Assembly and strengthened his seeming omnipotence. Since then, divisive infighting has been the opposition's norm...
...this week Chavez's adversaries have finally started to show some signs of a unified front. With the prospect of a divisive round of primaries on the horizon, the majority of opposition candidates for December's presidential election withdrew on Wednesday in order to back Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia state and the leading opposition candidate in the polls. After months of intense negotiations, opposition leaders seem to understand that throwing their weight behind one man is their only prospect - however slim - at unseating the heavily-favored Chavez. Front runners Julio Borges of the Justice First party and Teodoro Petkoff...
...oppressive military and security apparatus, responsible for imprisoning and in many instances torturing thousands of dissidents. And a number of factors could keep Raul on the hard line even after Fidel dies. For one thing, the largesse of Fidel's left-wing and oil-rich ally, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, has helped significantly to keep Cuba's economy afloat, lessening the urgency of economic reforms that many had expected under Fidel in recent years. (Cuba may also be buoyed by recent discoveries of ample crude reserves off its own coast.) What's more, just beneath Raul sit a number...
...because as mayor of Mexico City he at times ignored the mandates of the local legislature, challenged the authority of the Mexican Supreme Court, and obstructed the operations of the renowned international anti-graft organization, Transparency International. But he hastened to add that comparing Lopez Obrador to Chavez is unfair—the former was not a military general, did not stage a coup, and, in fact, came up through the ranks...