The first presidential debate in Venezuela

To my great surprise there was a presidential debate tonight. Well, I do not think the candidates planned it but it was held nevertheless.

On one side Chavez was having a lengthy interview in Venevision. Nothing much there, just an Alo Presidente but with suit and tie. I am not even sure Chavez lied when talking about his record: he seemed to be reciting perfectly what his underlings are feeding him and thus he might not actually be aware that he was uttering quite a few lies. Heck, in a precious moment he even admitted that after 8 years they are still doing trial an error methods to solve the problems of the country. All of the problems that is... After 8 years…

But it turned out that Rosales was presenting today his security program to the country. Thus he was invited by Alo Ciudadano. The two candidates coincided in time, if not TV station. So what did Globovision do? Since Chavez will not grant a debate, he is way too superior to do so, then Globovision listened to portions of Chavez same ever story and simply Rosales replied. It was a fascinating exercise and I am sure that when Chavez will learn about that he will be furious. And guess what? Rosales did do well, with a slight speech impediment, sounding very much like the people, very humble when compared to the arrogant presentation that been held at Venevision. I was at first slightly put off but as time advanced I liked better and better Rosales.

Of course I disliked arrogant Chavez of which I would not even believe the time of day, but readers of this blog already knew that, no? Still, Chavez was trying to look humble but the fact of the matter is that after years of world leadership, well, he just cannot come down to earth anymore once he does not totally control the set up. No wonder he hides behind the set up of Alo Presidente where he asks all the questions and sometimes does not even bother to reply to them.

My bet is that there will be no formal presidential debate.

PS: had I had my lap top as in the time of the World Cup last June this would have almost been live blogging :)

PS2, or rather part 2: Rosales is giving his first lenghty interview to CNN En Español. Patricia Janiot quizzes him hard but Rosales was undaunted. And he speaks to Venezuelans, not to the rest of the Americas. This is good, even if it probably infuriates Janiot (or did she want it this way?). Rosales is doing good, he is trashing all of the Chavez campaign abuse. He is saying that Venezuelans have to chose between holy water and sulfur! I love it!!!

Observation: From these two things I have discovered a rather dry wit in Rosales. I have been so used to the barracks vulgar humor of Chavez that it does take a few minutes to realize that Rosales has a certain subtle wit, that comes out in particualr when the question exasperates him. That is, when the question is rather stupid, he comes out with some dry comment such as chosing between sulfur and Holy Water. I did not know this from Rosales and it is the kind of humor I like. Will I turn from a supporter into a fan? If he keeps that way, there is quite a chance.