Venezuelans vote to choose Chavez's challenger

CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER Associated Press Published:

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Venezuelans lined up to vote on Sunday in the country's first-ever opposition presidential primary, choosing a single challenger they hope will have what it takes to finally defeat President Hugo Chavez after 13 years in office.

Opposition supporters seemed less interested in the proposals put forth by the five candidates competing in Sunday's vote than their chances of defeating Chavez in October's looming presidential election.

The outcome will set the stage for what many are billing as the most anticipated presidential vote since Chavez's first triumph in 1998, and Venezuelans on both sides of the nation's political gap are eager to see who will emerge as the challenger.


Carmen Gloria Padilla, a 66-year-old telephone company employee, said she was voting for the opposition's front-runner, Miranda state Gov. Henrique Capriles.



"I don't care who wins," snapped Gloria Muchacho, a 45-year-old housewife who hates when Chavez interrupts her soap operas with hours-long televised speeches that all channels are required to broadcast. "I just want them to get him out, he must go."


During public events and marathon televised addresses, Chavez insists it doesn't matter who emerges as the opposition's candidate because he's confident none of his rivals are capable of beating him. He repeatedly taunts would-be challengers, portraying them as agents of Venezuela's wealthy elite and Washington.

"These candidates are the empire's candidates," Chavez told thousands of supporters at a rally this month in Catia, which is a government stronghold. "We are going to give the unpatriotic bourgeoisie a beating."

Many in Catia have benefited from Chavez's social programs, which the government says are improving living conditions for the country's poor majority.












Nonetheless, even some of Chavez's most fervent foes are skeptical a unified opposition movement will be enough to oust Chavez.

Wendy Arias, a 55-year-old secretary who works in the capital's upscale El Rosal business district, said Chavez may ride to victory solely because he remains popular among the poor -- his main constituency.

"I don't like to say it, and I don't understand why, but it's true the president is still popular with people in the slums," Arias said, sipping espresso in a cafe and chatting with co-workers about politics.

"And if the opposition starts infighting ahead of the vote, there's no chance of a victory," added Arias, who accuses Chavez of dangerously splitting this oil-rich country along class lines.

Her words prompted nods of agreement from friends at the table.

Many voters said they think it will be key for Chavez's challenger to target poor voters and also not to take an overly hard line against Chavez, because such an approach hasn't worked well in the past.

Chavez endears many Venezuelans with his folksy, humorous personality, and gained millions of backers by starting social programs for the poor, building low-income housing, offering low-interest loans to cash-strapped farmers and confronting the United States -- a proven means of boosting nationalistic sentiment among citizens and the country's leftists.

But he's also given adversaries many reasons to loathe him: His government's expropriations of buildings, parking lots and farmland have angered many Venezuelans who claim private property rights have been violated. The president's failure to tackle rampant crime has angered relatives of tens of thousands of murder victims. Others accuse Chavez of wasting this oil-rich country's wealth during years of high world prices on populist programs and regional efforts to win political support, rather than helping the country develop.


"He doesn't care about Venezuelans, just those who are willing to vote for him," said Nancy Sanchez, a 34-year-old single mother whose husband started driving a taxi three years ago as increasing numbers of businesses shuttered.

Many Chavez supporters, however, argue that the president is simply unbeatable.

"None of them have what it takes to defeat Chavez," said Rodrigo Mijares, a 34-year-old taxi driver from the capital's poor, crime-ridden San Agustin neighborhood. "None of them have the appeal that Chavez uses to charm and captivate voters."


Associated Press writer Ian James in Caracas contributed to this report.