Only one opposition option…

CARACAS, Venezuela (By Chris Kraul Los Angeles Times, quoted here from the South Florida Sun Sentinel) Eight candidates opposing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called off a primary election set for Sunday, saying they had unanimously agreed to support the front-runner and best financed among them, Gov. Manuel Rosales. Here we go again!

Rosales acknowledged in television and radio interviews Wednesday that he faces an uphill battle and that "time is short." But in an acceptance speech before supporters he hammered away at what some analysts say are Chavez's vulnerabilities: his massive foreign aid programs, the government-approved takeovers of land and buildings, and the perception that crime is on the increase."The government wants to be the owner of all private property," Rosales said. "We will distribute land to the peasants but we will buy it in such a way as to respect the principle of private property, just as we will respect those of human rights and social justice.

OK, but this is what happened before. The opposition, instead of campaigning on their own policies/ ideas/ whatever, all joined together and campaigned as Anti-Chavistas, that hasn't been good enough before, I can't see it being good enough this December.

The same story here: The pullout of nine candidates prompted the cancellation of Sunday's primary vote and cleared the way for Zulia state Gov. Manuel Rosales to face Chavez, who was first elected in 1998 and is seeking a third four-year term. The fact that Sr. Rosales is from Zulia State may help, at least in the west of the country. Zulia is the state that covers most of the frontier with Colombia, it along with Tachira, apart from being beautiful, are suffering increased breakdown in security, kidnappings, murder etc... from Colombian rebels, something Chavez seems to care little about, it has become an almost Lawless zone in Venezuela

Martínez had gone to police days before to report that he had been threatened and to ask for protection. He even brought along photos of the suspects he had taken with his cell phone. Martínez told other ranchers that he would rather die than be kidnapped, Vargas said. And he did just that, witnesses say, resisting a group of eight men dressed in the battle fatigues and knee-high rubber boots preferred by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.

"Our government is totally indifferent to the problem,'' Martínez said (Adonay Martínez, president of a ranchers' association) who went on to say "Our sovereignty is being violated, and the response we get is total complacency.'' Other ranchers, who after several kinappings and deaths, had asked not be identified, suggested that the Chavez run military had been "passive because it is sympathetic with the leftist rebels' cause."

Colombia and Venezuela, neighbours who share a history; one very pro USA and the other the complete opposite - how long before 'border incidents' become more widespread and/or violent.

Ows edit, 18/08/06: From AP News on Myway.com:

Manuel Rosales, the popular governor of Zulia state, said Venezuela's foreign policy has been skewed by President Hugo Chavez's antipathy for Washington and his close friendship with Cuban President Fidel Castro.
"We don't have to depend on either the (U.S.) empire or the bearded one," Rosales said, alluding to Castro.
Chavez this week said Rosales and every other presidential challenger were candidates of the U.S. "empire."

S.O.