Word: vez
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...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...
...irony is that the pro-Chávez student forces still look small in comparison. That paradox is most visible at sites like the University of the Andes in the western city of Merida. In generations past, the school was an incubator for many of the Marxists who now occupy Chávez's government, including Chávez's older brother Adan. But this past week it was the setting for one of many scenes of violent standoffs between anti-Chávez students and the national guard...
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-Chávez...
...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...