President Hugo Chavez has suffered a string of international setbacks, seeing his campaign for a U.N. Security Council seat fall short and his favored leftist candidates losing elections in Peru and Mexico. President Bush "the devil" still rallies faithful Chavistas in Venezuela, where Chavez leads in the polls six weeks ahead of elections. But critics say his superheated rhetoric is turning away some potential supporters elsewhere.
Leftist presidential candidates in Peru and Mexico saw their leads disappear just months after Chavez traded verbal barbs with those countries' leaders. Mexico's conservative Felipe Calderon reversed his fortunes by incessantly linking opponent Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to Chavez, even though the two leftists had never met. In Peru, Alan Garcia won by a surprisingly wide margin after accusing Chavez of meddling by endorsing leftist Ollanta Humala.
"Chavez's support for Humala's candidacy, instead of strengthening it, sank it, since Peruvians felt the Venezuelan president interfered in Peru's politics," said Farid Kahhat, a political commentator in Lima. Chavez's influence has fared better in Bolivia, where socialist President Evo Morales considers him a mentor, and in Nicaragua, where Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega leads the polls heading into the Nov. 5 presidential election. But Chavez also has been notably quiet about the prospects of Ecuadorean leftist Rafael Correa, who faces a runoff next month in a presidential race with pro-U.S. businessman Alvaro Noboa.
"Chavez has proven to be political kryptonite in several electoral races, so I think you are seeing some backing away from Chavez," said Erikson, at Inter-American Dialogue. |