VENEZUELA: As the highly-contested Venezuelan elections draw closer, incumbent President Hugo Chavez and opposition governor Enrique Capriles battle to lure the youth vote

Record ID: 327822

  • Title: VENEZUELA: As the highly-contested Venezuelan elections draw closer, incumbent President Hugo Chavez and opposition governor Enrique Capriles battle to lure the youth vote
  • Date: 25th September 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF CONCERT TO PROMOTE YOUTHS TO COME OUT AND VOTE
  • Embargoed: 10th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA63B5GMEGLJBARN5IJWWG10H9I
  • Story Text: In Venezuela's biggest slum, a graffiti artist stencils a painting of President Hugo Chavez dunking a basketball, another shows him doing a wheelie on a motorcycle.
    It's all part of a careful campaign to promote Chavez's popularity among youth voters - and also dispel the image of a cancer-stricken leader limping to the polls.
    Both Chavez and the opposition are trying to win over a new generation of voters who, as in many countries, are often bored or disillusioned by politics.
    The group, called "Chavez es Otro Beta", behind the graffiti images of Chavez was formed earlier this year by a loose collection of dance and sports groups, graffiti artists and motorcycle taxi drivers.
    Beta is a barrio slang expression that can mean an issue, event or person.
    The pro-Chavez graffiti decorates basketball courts and youth centres established under Chavez's rule and the artists behind the graffiti campaign say it's all about showing the youth what Chavez has done for their demographic.
    "It is a way for us young people to feel that we identify with him (referring to President Hugo Chavez) and not like other networks say, that we try to sell him or rejuvenate him," founder and spokeswoman for "Chavez es Otro Beta", Daryelis Gonzalez, a 21-year-old hip-hop dancer better known as Bamby, told Reuters. "This work has a realness to it, this isn't a comic strip, this has a realness to it."
    It is a new look for the 58-year-old president, who is seeking another six-year term in a tight race despite undergoing cancer surgery three times since June 2011.
    Partly, it is an effort to counter the appeal of his much-younger rival, Governor Henrique Capriles of Miranda state, but also something deeper: the marketing of the socialist leader for a new generation after 14 years of his self-styled revolution.
    During a recent rally in Petare with Bamby and other Otro Beta members alongside him on stage, Chavez shared a message he had received on his Twitter account from the youth group.
    "I received a message via 'chavezcandanga' that reads 'Chavez es otro beta' and I wasn't sure what that was," Chavez said. "Where are the kids from 'otro beta'? Applause for the youth group 'otro beta'. They gave me a flag, 'Chavez es otro beta'."
    Political analyst Luzmely Reyes said that Chavez's attempt to court the youth vote is aimed at winning back many voters who feel left out of his Bolivarian revolution.
    "There is a large underground movement that has been able to give rise precisely because of this type of openness that President (Hugo) Chavez has in a cultural sense," she said. "But, at the same time, the majority of the country's youths do not feel represented within the model that he (Chavez) has presented. It's a model that some consider antiquated, that it has nothing to do with what Venezuela should be, that it does not offer security to the youths who are the ones that feel more exposed in the streets and who think they do not have a future in the country."
    Concerts and leaflet campaigns have also been staged to get the youth out in numbers at the polls.
    During an opposition rally, Capriles addressed young voters by assuring them they were an integral part of Venezuela's future.
    "Brothers, sisters, what do we do to make this city better? What do we do so that Caracas residents conquer fear? We defeat this pessimism, defeat those things that make us feel as if there is no future and of course, there is a future because you are the future. The future is the force from each one of you so that this country move forward."
    Capriles says young Venezuelans have been let down by Chavez's government, the only one most of them can remember.
    "He (Henrique Capriles) is young, he has new ideas, he is something new, he is something refreshing for our country. Sadly, not much has been done for a long time and we need something different," Capriles supporter Leila Fonzo said during a recent concert to promote voting. "(He is) A person who primarily believes in education which is the base for any country and he is someone who supports the young people and he wants to see us grow and triumph in this country."
    Across the board, voters cite law and order as their top concern. Kidnappings and deadly armed robberies are common.
    At least as many Venezuelans have been murdered over the last five years as have died in Mexico's drug war. Hardest hit are young men from the barrios.
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