Government foes accuse Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez of being behind the barring of several prominent candidates from Venezuela’s congressional elections, saying he is trying to undermine the opposition’s chances.
The country’s top anti-corruption official, Comptroller General Clodosbaldo Russian, recently blocked six anti-Chavez hopefuls from the September ballot citing suspicions of possible involvement in graft.
One of the barred candidates, Ernesto Paraqueima of the left-leaning Podemos party, who is popular in eastern Anzoategui state, was disqualified for allegedly failing to present documentation of his financial assets after serving as mayor.
Paraqueima denied any wrongdoing on Wednesday and called the prohibition “a trap that was set a long time ago.” He said Russian’s office announced the step last week in an attempt to hurt the opposition.
“This is another example of persecution,” Paraqueima said.
Russian denied the sanctions are politically motivated.
“We don’t have a list of people registered in one party or the other,” he said, pointing out that two pro-Chavez candidates — Numa Rojas and Jorge Luis Diaz — have also been barred from running due to graft suspicions.
Russian argues Venezuelan law allows him to impose such restrictions based solely on suspicion of corruption, with no need for hard evidence or for a candidate to have gone to trial and been convicted.
Meanwhile, nobody expects one hunger striker to stop a wave of nationalizations by Chavez that have targeted foreign and domestic businesses and small locally owned farms. However, the 11-month protest by farmer Franklin Brito is drawing attention to opponents of the nationalization campaign, and Chavez’s critics say he could become a powerful symbol for the opposition if he dies.
“Franklin symbolizes the abuses against human rights being perpetrated in Venezuela,” his wife, Elena, said, adding that the 49-year-old was fading fast at a Caracas military hospital.
He has been kept there against his will since December after being picked up by authorities from the Caracas square where he camped out.
“He is the living denunciation,” she said.
Venezuelan authorities say Brito is mentally unstable and accuse the political opposition of trying to exploit his case.
“The state will not let itself be blackmailed,” said Carlos Escarra, an official with Chavez’s PSUV party.
However, Brito’s death could be a blow to the president’s efforts to improve his image at home, which has suffered from a recession and electricity shortages ahead of legislative elections in September that are seen as a crucial test of his support.
The farmer is certainly no stranger to extreme forms of protest. He camped for months outside the Caracas office of the Organization of American States, sewed shut his mouth and even chopped off one of his fingers in front of television cameras.
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