A Vote for Chavez is a ‘Vote Against the Devil’

CARACAS, Venezuela — The first thing I noticed, after we’d swatted through the horde of zealous taxi drivers at the airport and were on the road into town, was the endless stream of political slogans and pro-Chavez campaign posters lining the autopista.

Speeding past the mountain-side barrios that surround Caracas late last night, the one that grabbed my attention most read, in Spanish: “Vote Against The Devil. Vote Against Imperialism. Vote For Chavez.”

No doubt, the president’s backers are in full campaign mode. That’s why it came as something of a surprise Sunday to learn that Chavez has temporarily suspended the weekly taping of his call-in show on state-TV, Alo Presidente. Evidently the opposition has complained that the show gives him an unfair advantage.

Editor’s note: WPR international news editor Guy Taylor is in Venezuela on a reporting trip funded by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. He’ll be sending us blog dispatches from time to time.

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