By Arthur Shaw

A typical bourgeois propagandist or, in other words, a reporter working for the bourgeois media expresses the standard reactionary line on the presidential race between Hugo Chavez and Henrique Capriles set for Oct. 7 as election day.

“In this last month of campaign, the red people [Hugo Chavez’ campaign] encounter three big obstacles that are going to make their life impossible. The first obstacle is the ghost of a young Hugo Chávez of previous elections who undoubtedly led his revolutionary project. The second one is his own administration which is famous by its corruption, inefficiency, deterioration, outrage and persecution. The last obstacle is the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski who is making an impeccable campaign by visiting 160 villages in less than 50 days so far,” a capitalist journalist writes.

So — according to the lying cappie [capitalist] press — the Chavez’ campaign encounters three big obstacles.

1. A ghost

2. An infamous administration

3. Capriles impeccable campaign

As for the first obstacle, the need of the cappie [capitalist] media to conjure a “ghost” shows the degree of desperation this media feels. Even more striking is that this media summons the ghost of its opponent — Hugo Chavez — for assistance in the reactionary campaign.

As for the second obstacle, the most famous and most important part of the Chavez Administration are the “Missions” — a group of social programs in health care, education, housing, nutrition, employment, etc that have been very successful. Indeed, the Missions are been so successful that the Capriles campaign promises to keep the Missions even if Capriles wins. So, if the Missions are infamous for “corruption, inefficiency, deterioration, outrage and persecution,” why would Capriles and his reactionaries want to keep the Missions which were introduced and developed administratively by Hugo Chavez?

As for the third obstacle — that is, Capriles “impeccable campaign,” why has this “impeccable campaign” stayed, in double-digits, behind Chavez in opinion polls conducted by almost all reactionary as well as liberal pollsters from March to August of this year? With almost all of the twelve pollsters that covered the Venezuelan presidential race from March to August, the Chavez’ lead over Capriles hasn’t fallen below 10 points.

The alleged Capriles “impeccable campaign” is counting on the issuance of series of rigged polls during the last month of the campaign by fraudulent, fly-by-night, and obscure “pollsterrs” to negate the status of a “mathematically irreversibly” lead enjoyed by Chavez.

Not even the lying cappie press can endorse such a transparent fraud by Capriles and his US imperialist backers.