Latin America

Venezuelans support Maduro as Chavez’s successor

APTOPIX Venezuela MaduroA political analyst tells Press TV that the overwhelming majority of the people in Venezuela are in support of Maduro’s candidacy that is going to be coming up next month.

This is while Venezuela will hold a presidential election on April 14 to vote for a replacement for late President Hugo Chavez. Acting President Nicolas Maduro will run as a candidate for the ruling party. Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, the executive secretary of the Democratic Unity Roundtable, which is the main opposition coalition in the country, announced that Henrique Capriles, who lost to Chavez in an election in October 2012, was chosen to run against Maduro.

Press TV has conducted an interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, political commentator, to further discuss the issue. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Azikiwe, with Venezuela orphaned as many describe, how much do you see the legacy of Chavez being followed?

Azikiwe: It appears as if it is going to be followed right down the line. If you listened to interim president Maduro’s speech yesterday before the National Assembly, he re-emphasized the necessity of maintaining the socialist revolution, the Bolivarian process inside of Venezuela.

He also re-affirmed Venezuela’s independent foreign policy, the need to guarantee the national security of the country from the imperialist threats that are ever-present against the revolution in Venezuela.

I believe very strongly that the overwhelming majority of the people in Venezuela are in support of the Maduro candidacy that is going to be coming up next month.

Press TV: And of course how much US influence are we going to see this time around with a Latin America without its vocal anti-US, anti-imperialist leader – Chavez?

Azikiwe: I think that President Chavez has left a tremendous legacy within Venezuelan society. One of the major contributions that he made during his presidency was the mass literacy campaign. They were able to eradicate illiteracy in the country. People are highly politicized. They believe in political education and of course Maduro himself is very ideologically sound in regard to maintaining the course of anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist development.

And I believe that the people in Venezuela recognize that President Chavez’s legacy is going to be embodied not only within the interim president Maduro but also within the majority of the National Assembly as well as within the hearts and minds of the Venezuelan people themselves.

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