As Venezuela’s election day, December 3, draws near, Chavecito sightings abound. And sometimes it’s not even him in the picture…or is it?

This Chavecito’s just full of hot air, unlike the original, but then again, he’s a giant balloon. Clearly, the people of the barrios around Caracas are pumped to greet their president on one of his campaign stops…

The opposition campaign is nasty, full of lies and false promises, but if this boppy toy is any indication, you can’t keep a good man down. It even says so on his belt.
But not only can Chavecito roll with the punches, he can dish ’em, too:

And when he’s not been rallying the troops, he’s been inaugurating important projects, such as this bridge over the Orinoco, with his good friend Lula of Brazil, who supplied engineers to help with others:

And as part of the fun and festivities, of course they just had to ride across the more than 3km span in Venezuela’s own big, bad-ass answer to the Humvee–the Tiuna:

Meanwhile, his ratings are so far through the roof that Chavecito commands more than double the percentage of decided voters as does Manuel Rosales, his closest (cough, snicker) challenger. No wonder he’s all smiles lately…

And wouldn’t you be, if you knew that your own election back in ’99 was what turned the tide of South America to the left–and is also helping to create continent-wide economic integration?




