Venezuela Elections 2012: Chavez vs. Capriles

Hugo Chavez in Brazil. (Photo : Wikimedia Commons)

Election season is heating up in not only the United States, but in Venezuela as well. The citizens of Venezuela will choose their president for the next six years when they walk to the polls on October 7. Here's a look at the two main candidates vying for the people's votes.

Hugo Chavez

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The charismatic Hugo Chavez has been president of Venezuela since 1999. Having been a major founding member of the Fifth Republic Movement from its inception in 1997 until 2007, Chavez now heads the Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV), or the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

Chavez is an outspoken opponent of western power influences in his country. He frequently touts his political stance as anti-imperialist, and is an outspoken vocal critic of neoliberalism and capitalism in general.

He has also taken a harsh stance against the United States, comparing George Bush to the devil back in 2006 at the United Nations.

Henrique Capriles Radonski

Capriles is a politician and lawyer who will be facing off against Chavez in his first presidential run. Radonski represents Justice First, and is backed by the Coalition for Democratic Unity. He has spent time as mayor of the Baruta Municipality of Caracas.

Capriles has made education a vital part of his campaign.

Also, according to Bloomberg, Capriles  "favors former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's mix of market-friendly economic policies combined with income redistribution."

Foreign, capitalist-based countries can count on Capriles being more friendly than Chavez.