Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas

Momentum for Capriles Heading to Election Day



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Caracas, Venezuela – We are just hours away from Venezuela’s Election Day and it is time to relax, sit tight and wait to see if the polls are finally right. The last two weeks of the campaign were crucial for both candidates. However it was Henrique Capriles who took the greatest advantage of the end of the campaign by making his youth and his energy pillars of the visits he made to each state.

Two weeks ago President Hugo Chávez still had yet to visit half of the states in the country as a candidate. That is lot to say given that the campaign has been in progress since July. Although he tried to keep up with Capriles’ pace, speeches in the states where Chávez did visit were no longer than 30 minutes—clear signs of his weak health. Furthermore, his strategy as a speaker oddly shifted as well, deciding to emphasize an acknowledgement of his mistakes and the fact that the revolution is far more important than problems such as insecurity and high inflation.

Capriles, on the other hand, profited from his momentum in the campaign. He visited two states each day for the last 14 days, traveling sometimes more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles). His speeches were getting better by the day, with his increased confidence clearly on display. The last visit he made was to the state of Lara, where he displayed an impressive end to his campaign. His interviews this week on Venevision and Televen—both very important TV channels—ended an outstanding effort that will hopefully put to an end 14 years of the comandante’s regime.

*Tomas Hernandez is a guest blogger to AQ Online. He lives in Caracas and is co-founder of the think tank Diploos and is a columnist for El Universal, El Impulso and RunRun.es. Follow him on Twitter: @TomasHHR.

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