PBS: NewsHour- Ray Suarez: 'President Hugo Chavez- Faces Serious Challenger in Venezuelan Elections'

Source:PBS NewsHour- Venezuelan democracy in acton.

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From Wikipedia 

"For 14 years, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez maintained power battling military coups, presidential term limit amendments, even cancer. But for the upcoming elections, a typically fractured opposition is united behind challenger Henrique Capriles Radonski, threatening Chavez's stronghold over the presidency. Ray Suarez reports. PBS News" 

From the PBS NewsHour

If President Hugo Chavez was a Democratic Socialist, he wouldn't have any real issues with a free independent private media. Doesn't mean there wouldn't be any state-run media, but by en-large the media would be privately controlled to hold public officials accountable. 

But you have to know that one of President Chavez's biggest political hero's is former President Fidel Chavez of the Communist Republic of Cuba. So we're not talking about a Social Democrat or Democratic Socialist, but someone with Far-Left authoritarian leanings like Fidel. Perhaps not a hard-core Communist, since Venezuela still somewhat has democratic multi-party elections there and there is a Center-Right liberal democratic opposition there. 

Any Communist in their right mind would have outlawed any political opposition and certainly any private media. But what looks like is going on in Venezuela is that they don't like what the Chavez Administration under the Socialist Party there and what they're doing even if they're not pure Communists and that they want a change there. And to have more freedom and ability to live their own lives.