Caracas Chronicles

Henrique Capriles is having a Facebook online forum tonight. Details here. We’re live-blogging the thing…

8:23 – Wrapping up, it felt oddly like one of those Primary season debates, only shorn of all of the cranks and obsessives. Practice makes perfect, and Capriles has gotten a lot better at this sort of thing. His central message is still clear: voting for me is a low-risk thing to do – the sky won’t fall the next day. He’s worked tirelessly to make that message stick, but how many are listening?

8:22 – Closes on an unambiguous pledge to bring back RCTV.

8:21 – Pushing the secrecy of the vote thing hard. It’s a tough argument for him to make on Don’t-Think-Of-An-Elephant grounds, but somebody has to make it.

8:18 – Are the ODH kids getting paid overtime for this?!

8:16 – After 19 citizen safety plan, who can really believe this government has the solution to the crime problem?

8:14 – Paraphrasing: “El censo de la Gran Mision Vivienda Venezuela es mio es tuyo es tierra venezolaaaaaaana…” We’re going to build those houses, and we won’t hand them out on political grounds.

8:13 – On Housing Policy, he acknowledges that the government is building tons of housing – but says it’s too little, too late, because it’s all just an electoral gambit. It’s a sensible defense, but will it wash?

8:11 – It’s really all down to credibility – Chávez says Capriles will fire zillions of public employees, Capriles says he won’t. Who do you believe? That’s what it comes down to…

8:10 – Wow, they’re broadcasting from RCTV studios!

8:07 – Mayor theme: the government’s just out of touch because they don’t get out into the communities. Capriles’s discourse is really the same it was during the primaries.

8:05 – The obligatory confrontation question; “if today you’re falling back on confrontation and fighting it’s because you have nothing new to offer.”

8:01 – The IACHR’s rulings are in favor of individuals who don’t get a proper response from state authorities, so leaving the court only hurts Venezuelans who can’t find justice in the country. It’s irresponsible. So we’ll go back. These organizations are to place limits on the power of the state, and that’s what this government can’t stand, to have limits placed on its power.

8:00 – I don’t agree with unilateral decisions on things like leaving the Inter-American Human Rights Court, with bravuconada-based policy-making.

7:56 – 700,000 families are in extreme poverty – hungry people. The government’s out of touch, you can see it because they say nobody in Venezuela is hungry, or lacks running water. Again, misión mentira.

7:55 – Venezuela had 0.68% of Latin America’s tourism market, less than Aruba. Points-for-caletrating the stat.

7:54 – Falcón is great! I love Falcón!

7:52 – There 9 million Facebook users in Venezuela – who knew?

7:51 – We are not considering selling off our phone company – we’re considering improving their management. Watch Nagel howl!

7:49 – First proper tough question from the hipster kid in the Seinfeld hat – how are you going to broaden internet access without privatising CANTV? Capriles says – you can have well managed firms in State hands, but not in the hands of these jokers.

7:47 – In two minutes there’s no way to press Capriles on the difficulties facing a diversification plan in the face of Dutch Disease

7:45 – Capriles’s campaign has been clear all along: I’m here to lower the cost of voting for me.

7:44 – The government is running a Misión Mentira and a Misión Insulto. We want to give people title to their own land and to their own homes. The point is that nobody can later on come in and take away the homes that have been given to them.

7:42 – INCES has been turned into a political party’s indoctrination system. We’re not here to waste time, we need INCES to help older workers who’ve lost their jobs.

7:42 – Chavismo is the outcome of a system that imploded.

7:41 – I like his awareness that you need to tackle all four fronts at once: Prevention, court system, jails, and cops. There aren’t any partial solutions.

7:39 – 20 year old guys who are in jail today were 7 or 8 when this government came to power.

7:36 – First things first: citizen’s security is the President’s responsibility, no one else’s.

7:35 – 4,409 viewers. That’s a rally!

7:34 pm – Two minutes per question.

7:32 pm – Ramón Pasquier is hosting. Expect lots of questions about nice places to vacation.

7:29 pm – Quico here ready to kick off.