MADELEINE BRAND, host:
This is DAY TO DAY. I'm Madeleine Brand.
MIKE PESCA, host:
And I'm Mike Pesca.
In a few minutes, one TV critic's take on Al-Jazeera's new English language service.
BRAND: But first, the populist leader Hugo Chavez has every confidence he will continue on as the president of Venezuela. At a rally in Caracas yesterday, Chavez told hundreds of thousands of supporters he will win reelection next weekend by an overwhelming margin. He is wildly popular for spending billions of Venezuela's oil profits on social programs.
PESCA: But the former army colonel has stumbled a bit. His anti-American bluster has cost his country a seat on the U.N. Security Council. And at home, Chavez faces a rising opposition movement that just a few months ago was in disarray.
NPR's Juan Forero had this report from Caracas, Venezuela.
JUAN FORERO: On a recent Saturday, tens of thousands people, all opposed to President Hugo Chavez, marched through Caracas. They blew whistles and yelled slogans. They danced to music and they cheered for their leader, Manuel Rosales. Rosales, a wiry, intense man, who comes from humble roots like Chavez, has emerged as a unifying force for a once-fractured opposition.
Henry Para(ph), an engineer, was among those cheering.
Mr. HENRY PARA (Rosales Supporter): Because now we have a leader for all the opposition. He's very smart. He only speak with the truth. Chavez never say the truth.
FORERO: Rosales's message hammers at Venezuela's grinding problems. Antonio Marquez(ph) is helping shape Rosales's campaign and criticizes Chavez's obsession with Washington.
Mr. ANTONIO MARQUEZ (Rosales Campaign Worker): He's been campaigning against Bush and the American government and against the imperialism. He doesn't talk about the housing problems, the unemployment problem, the crime problems in Venezuela.
FORERO: Chavez takes on the United States every chance he gets. He gloated at the Republican loss in the midterm elections, and he has called the American president a devil. But to millions of Venezuelans, Chavez has delivered. He's harnessed the riches of the state oil company. The poor benefit from subsidized food, health clinics, and literacy classes.
Most polls show Chavez leading Rosales by at least 20 percentage points ahead of the December 3rd election. Rosales, though, had a scant nine percent support in August. Now he's got more than 30.
(Soundbite of cars honking)
FORERO: Chavez boasts that he'll win more than 60 percent of the vote, but the government isn't taking chances. All over Caracas, motorists pass billboards with Chavez's face or with messages, like one that reads, The People Firmly Behind Their Commandante.
On television Chavez ads fill the airwaves too. Some try to portray Chaves - who is known for his bellicose speech as a softer, gentler leader. In this one, adoring crowds reach out to him and Chaves says softly, I've done it all for love.
(Soundbite of political ad)
FORERO: But the opposition accuses Chavez's administration of using coercion to ensure votes from state employees. They point to a recent speech by Rafael Ramirez, the president of the state oil company. He told workers they must support the president's Bolivarian Revolution or risk losing their jobs.
Chavez responded to critics by saying state agencies should be socialist from top to bottom.
President CHAVEZ: (Speaking Spanish)
FORERO: In Isaias Medina Angarita, a poor neighborhood, a group of men play dominoes. Jorge Suascoon(ph), a sure vote for Chavez, believes the opposition may try to topple his president with American help. He recalls the 2002 coup, which ousted Chavez for two days before he returned triumphantly. The White House voiced support for the overthrow, something no one who supports Chavez ever forgets.
Mr. JORGE SUASCOON (Chavez Supporter): (Through translator) They're up to some trick. They're preparing something. We don't know what. We're not going to let them take the government because they want to.
FORERO: Opposition leader Rosales - who is governor of oil-rich Zulia state - says his campaign is no trick.
Mr. MANUEL ROSALES: (Speaking Spanish)
FORERO: He's just pointing out the obvious, that Chavez is wasting oil revenues, spending billions overseas to burnish his image. Rosales says that it's a mistake that has given him the momentum.
He still faces an uphill battle, but for the first time in years, Venezuela is experiencing a real contest for power.
Juan Forero, NPR News, Caracas, Venezuela. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
