After 14 years in power, Hugo Chavez confronts a tough challenger in Venezuela election by Juan Forero, Washington Post.
Weakened from battling cancer and visibly bloated, President Hugo Chavez is fighting for his political life in Sunday’s presidential election, as he faces a charismatic challenger who has energized a once-disunited opposition in a way none of the populist leader’s foes ever has.
At stake is the president’s experiment to remake Venezuela, a 14-year transformation characterized by the expropriation of private companies, diplomatic initiatives to counter U.S. influence and a near-mystical bond with the country’s poor masses...
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Chávez Wins New Term in Venezuela, Holding Off Surge by Opposition
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/08/world/americas/venezuela-presidential…
No surprises here, U.S. media and the U.S. government generally try to read foreign audiences through a U.S. lens and almost always get it wrong. We focus on his anti-U.S. rhetoric, while the people focus on his rhetoric about helping the poor and limiting U.S. influence. I'm surprised the election was this close.