In Venezuela, a Victory for Chavez, But Not Chavismo

On Sunday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez won a new term, defeating the strongest electoral challenge to his presidency to date, despite questions over his health and an opposition that has grown in strength and resolve.

Both Christopher Sabatini, senior director of policy at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas and editor of Americas Quarterly, and Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, told Trend Lines that even though Henrique Capriles Radonski, the opposition candidate, lost the election, the opposition itself took a major step forward in the process.

“The difference between the opposition’s performance this time around and in 2006 is like day and night,” Shifter wrote in an email. “The opposition’s electoral strategy was smart and effective. It was just not enough to overtake the Chávez patronage machine. But the opposition, led by Capriles, deserves a lot of credit.”

Sabatini pointed to “a tremendous evolution in the maturation of the opposition,” noting its “cohesion, rhetoric and platform.” In the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat, he added, the opposition is now talking about the need for patience.

“They clearly realize they are in this for the long haul,” said Sabatini. “While they did not beat Chávez, they did win in many ways.”

Despite Chávez’s continuing popularity with the majority of the population, Sabatini said he is beginning to see cracks in the socialist president’s so-called Bolivarian Revolution, his program whose goals include the equal distribution of revenues nationally and economic and social integration across Latin America.

“Chávez won, but I’m not sure Chavismo won,” said Sabatini, referring to another term for the Venezuelan leader’s political ideology. “I’m not sure Bolivarianism won....”

Please click here to read the full article.