Chávez: ‘More power to the people!’

One week before the Dec. 3 presidential election in Venezuela, hundreds of thousands of supporters of President Hugo Chávez, wearing red T-shirts and waving red banners, rallied in downtown Caracas.

It is time, Chávez told the crowd, to give more power to the people.

More power, he said, should be given to “communities, the poor, the people who cry, work and study.”

The Venezuelan leader spoke in solidarity with the Cuban Revolution, noting that the election takes place on the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s arrival in Cuba with other armed rebels aboard the vessel Granma to launch the guerrilla war that eventually brought the revolution to power.

“Fidel,” said Chávez to the roars of his supporters, “applause from Venezuela! Long live revolutionary Cuba!”

The pro-Chávez rally came one day after a large demonstration in support of the U.S.-backed, anti-communist opposition leader Manual Rosales.

Independent polls have given Chávez a 20-point lead over Rosales in the presidential election. But the opposition is already preparing to declare “election fraud” on Dec. 4, and mobilizing its supporters around the slogan “defend the vote.”

The U.S. government has funneled millions of dollars to opposition groups inside Venezuela through organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. Agency for International Development.

—Robert Dobrow