Chavez Opposition Still Climbing Out of a Hole

Although socialist President Hugo Chávez routed his centrist challenger, Henrique Capriles Radonski, 55% to 45% in Sunday’s presidential election in Venezuela, the opposition can take some consolation in the fact that Capriles did a lot of things right. That includes reaching out in a more credible way to poorer Venezuelans, who make up Chávez’s base. The problem is that it wasn’t nearly enough to make up for all the things the opposition has done wrong during the almost 14 years that Chávez and his populist, anti-U.S. revolution have ruled Venezuela and the world’s largest oil reserves. Chávez’s foes, whose more unified front should have made Capriles a contender, now have six more years to ponder why the Miraflores presidential palace is still so far out of their reach when so many factors indicate it should be within their grasp.