Translation mine. Chavecito isn’t worrying for other reasons, too. A key one being the fact that the survey firms he’s referring to have the oppos’ stinkum all over them:The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, today dismissed the results of surveys which show a supposed drop in his popularity over the last few months and asserted that he would win re-election in the 2012 elections.During an official ceremony, the president said that “they (the opposition) have already begun; they’re fighting a lot, for sure. Of course, they want to be deputies now, and many want to be presidents, so they go around telling stories, and now they’re saying they’ll win out over Chávez in 2012.”Chávez dismissed the findings of the opposition’s polling firms, which claimed that between August and October, the popularity of the Venezuelan government dropped nearly 20 points, from 60 to 42% approval, due to the citizenry’s rejection of socialist measures.The head of state laughed at the “party” the opposition threw over certain opinion polls which claimed that his popularity had dropped over the last two months.“They’re already campaigning, and they say I’m campaigning. Fine, it’s true, my campaign never ends. I began on February 4, 1992 (with the failed uprising against the government of Carlos Andés Pérez) and I’ll end it on the day they bury me,” Chávez said.The president bases his confidence that he will be elected to a third term on the fact that while the opposition is supported by capitalists and the wealthy, his government is bringing in socialism “which frees the people, the majorities, from slavery.”
Again, translation mio.When you’re well armed with the true facts, you’re pretty well disinclined to give much credit to bullshit. Human Development Indices (and dramatically improved nutrition levels) are pretty damn hard to argue against. So’s the fact that Venezuela recently made the UNESCO Executive Council–kind of a hard thing to do if you’re not progressing substantially and democratically!On the other hand, accusations around discredited Argentine nuclear scientists are easy to laugh off–and you can see Chavecito do it here. Albeit, alas, only in Spanish. But check out his face, tone of voice and body language anyhow–he clearly thinks the accusations surrounding this Macaroni ‘n’ Cheeze dude are hilarious, and so do I. It’s like accusing Canada of being in the nuclear arms race just because we build CANDU reactors, fergawdsakes. (CANDUs generate electricity, not weapons-grade plutonium. BTW, let’s give Bloomberg a hearty round of applause for getting this story right.)No, Chavecito’s not the least bit worried. He’s laughing, and why not? He’s got, as usual, plenty to laugh about. The oppos are in their customary state of disarray, and the only way they have of shoring up their discredited parties and platforms is to resort to lies, rumor-mongering, false accusations, lies, lies, more lies, and oh yeah, did I mention damn lies…and statistics?“Alfredo Keller & Associates and Hinterlaces are briefcase-toting enterprises, totally disreputable, and a laughing-stock for the vulgar manipulation they’ve committed about Venezuelan political reality for the last 10 years in the interests of the US State Department.”So says Carlos Sierra, co-ordinator of mobilizations and events in Caracas for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), adding that the said survey firms should be investigated by legal authorities.“These private companies that take opinion polls in the Caracas Country Club district, should be held responsible before the Venezuelan justice system, and explain where they get these numbers whose purpose is to deceive the population–an objective they keep achieving with less frequency every time,” Sierra said.These companies blatantly violate the constitution of the republic, Sierra asserts, and for this reason, the PSUV is calling on the Prosecutor-General and the National Assembly to open a legal investigation into their activities.“in contrast to what these companies announced in their latest manipulations, the popularity of Chávez is holding steady around 60%, according to the Venezuelan Institute of Data Analysis (IVAD), Encuestadora Siglo XXI, and even Datanálisis, which is linked to the opposition sectors,” Sierra said.IVAD and Datanálisis emphasized, in their latest opinion polls, published in September, levels of 57.9% and 57.3% support, respectively, for the leadership of president Hugo Chávez Frías.Hinterlaces and Alfredo Keller forget that the president’s leadership rests on revolutionary governance, expressed in socio-economic programs aimed at improving the lot of millions of Venezuelans who were marginalized by neoliberal politics, the same which these firms defend, Sierra says. “Not for nothing is the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela among the first five countries on the planet with the highest rate of sustained growth, according to the United Nations,” Sierra recalls. He is referring to Venezuela’s Human Development Index, which has grown in a sustained manner since 2003, despite hardships caused by certain opposition actions, such as the coup d’état of 2002 and the petroleum-industry sabotage of 2002-3. In the Human Development Index, which takes into account levels of education, health and economic growth, Venezuela now occupies the 58th highest position worldwide. In Latin America, it lags behind only Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Cuba.The figures of the UN and Datanálisis “are a clear expression of the policies implemented by the National Executive, which have a favorable impact on the Venezuelan population, especially the most vulnerable sectors.”
