Venezuelans voted Sunday in gubernatorial elections amid jitters over the health of President Hugo Chavez as he recovers from more cancer surgery in Cuba.
The voting for the 23 state governors of the country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves is a key test for Henrique Capriles, the opposition leader Chavez beat in presidential elections in October.
Capriles — governor of populous Miranda state, which includes part of Caracas — is seeking re-election and a consolidated status as leader of an array of parties that oppose Chavez, a garrulous former paratrooper who has thoroughly dominated this nation since first being elected in 1999.
Chavez supporters see the election as a way to show support for their leader and perhaps help him heal.
“If he asked that we vote for there to be change, and (he) sees that this is becoming reality, I think he will feel motivated and his condition will improve,” said Adelsi Milano, a 48-year-old electrician in a working class district of Caracas.
“If we win, I imagine he will feel stronger and recover,” said Flor Rodriguez, 35. She expressed concern over crime and spotty trash collection.
The populist Chavez bills himself as champion of the underclasses, and is loathed by the business elite. Over the years he has irked the United States by aligning himself with countries like Iran, Cuba and Syria, and become the leader of the left in Latin America.
Capriles has charged the government is using Chavez’s illness as a hook to win sympathy votes for him via gubernatorial candidates who back him.
As he cast his vote, Capriles said the election was not just about his own race to keep his job.
“The election is not about the fate of one person, but rather that of millions of people,” said Capriles, 40, also calling for large turnout among the opposition.
“Not voting can be costly, he said.”
Chavez’s surgery Tuesday was his fourth cancer operation since being diagnosed last year. The government says he faces a difficult recovery process. His inauguration for his third six-year term is scheduled for January 10.
Chavez’s handpicked political heir, Nicolas Maduro, a former bus driver turned foreign minister and vice president, is warning people of the prospect of Chavez becoming incapacitated, or worse.
The government is keeping mum on where in his body the 58-year-old is afflicted with cancer.
In the elections, the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela is seeking to wrest away opposition strongholds like Miranda and the oil-producing state of Zulia in the northwest.
Chavez’s party now controls 15 states and is expected to retain them, while the opposition holds seven and one is independent.
For Capriles, there are two big issues at stake.
For one, there is his job as governor of Miranda. But after losing the presidential election by a 10-point margin, he also needs to strengthen his status as opposition leader in the event another presidential election is held soon.
That would happen if Chavez is not fit to be inaugurated on January 10 — the ceremony cannot be postponed — or dies in the first four years of his six-year term.
Anticipating such a possible scenario, Chavez gave Maduro de facto presidential power before leaving for Cuba and said the vice president should be the ruling-party candidate if there is another presidential poll.
A Capriles loss in Miranda, where he has been governor for eight years, would undermine his leadership and sap his prospects for taking on Maduro if Chavez becomes incapacitated or dies and a snap election is called.
“If Capriles wins Miranda, his possibility of being that adversary, and a very good one, would be huge,” said political analyst Luis Vicente Leon. “But if he loses, it drops towards zero.”
Venezuela state elections held under shadow of Chavez cancer
