Posted on 04/23/2006 9:47:17 AM PDT by economist-student
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- He's a 74-year-old ex-guerrilla fighter who says age has taught him the ways of the devil and he's ready to take on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez -- at the polls in presidential elections. ADVERTISEMENT
Teodoro Petkoff, who is running as an independent in Dec. 3 elections, pledged Friday a day after announcing his candidacy to reunite a country that he said has become deeply polarized during Chavez's seven years of government.
Petkoff, the editor of the Tal Cual newspaper, said in his characteristically irreverent tone that Chavez's policies resembled a "bumper car" that had become the "great disintegrator of the region," criticizing the Venezuelan leader for abruptly withdrawing from the five-nation Andean Community trade bloc this week.
Chavez, a fierce critic of U.S. trade liberalization policies, called the group "fatally wounded" after other members Colombia and Peru finalized free-trade deals with Washington.
"His idea of a political project is one under his hegemonic direction," Petkoff said.
Playing on Chavez's frequent calls to prepare Venezuela for an "asymmetrical war" against a possible U.S. invasion, Petkoff acknowledged he was facing an "enormous" asymmetry by taking on Chavez, who he claimed, "has the entire state apparatus at his service and he uses it unscrupulously."
Three other government opponents have announced plans to run against Chavez, including William Ojeda, a journalist and former Chavez ally, Julio Borges, a conservative attorney, and Roberto Smith, an ex-infrastructure minister.
Petkoff, at 74, is the oldest but he quipped using a Spanish saying: "The devil knows more not because he is the devil but because of his age."
The center-left candidate faces tough odds against the popular Chavez, who polls indicate has the support to handily defeat any current challenger.
Petkoff, the son of a Bulgarian father and Polish mother of Jewish origin, took up arms as a member of the Communist Party in the 1950s against dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez and the U.S.-backed government that succeeded him. The rebels robbed banks, kidnapped businessmen and clashed at times with soldiers.
He later grew disillusioned with a Communist bloc he saw as authoritarian -- the same complaint he has nowadays about Chavez.
Petkoff, a former member of the Senate and also an ex-planning minister, ran for the presidency twice in the 1980s and lost.
Supporters see Petkoff as a critical thinker whose independent politics give him credibility in an opposition weakened by cronyism and infighting. His critics dislike his leanings toward conservative economics and argue he betrayed the Latin American left.
He's a longtime friend of Vice-President Rangel, and he has visited Cuba many times.
The truth is that he's just another Chavez's puppet so that the upcoming elections will look legitimate. The worst part is that many Venezuelans support him, how sad is that?
I predict Chavez will win 100% of the vote in Dec in what lefties world wide will hail as "the fairest of elections in any country in 10 years. If only US elections were like this."
I'm sure Jimmah will be there to verify what you just said is true.
Given the choice between Chavez and Petkoff, I'd choose Petkoff. He is the perennial outsider, but as far as I know he is an honest man.
To be a rebel under a dictatorship doesn't make you evil. He has basically opposed Chavez from the beginning, seeing him as a fake and a madman.
A Petkoff is probably the only way back from a Chavez to constitutional government, which is why it isn't going to happen; Chavez controls the computers. I would say that Petkoff is their best chance, however. They will need to first win the election convincingly, and then when Chavez steals it, they will need to march down to the palace and take it. An old rebel like Petkoff will know what to do, I hope.
Bump!
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