Diego Arria: "Chávez suffered a major setback"

EL UNIVERSAL - "The election results represent the end of Chávez's attempt to turn the country into a socialist state under the banner of the Bolivarian Revolution". Politics Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in last November 23rd local polls "suffered a major setback when the democratic opposition won the governorships of the five most populous states plus the Caracas Mayor's office, which altogether represent more than half of the electorate and four fifths of the national economy," said Diego Arria, a former Venezuelan Ambassador to the United Nations.When asked what the election results meant for Chávez, Arria replied that the local polls were prefaced by "an abusive campaign" that turned the election into a plebiscite about Chávez.According to Arria, a member of the advisory board of publication The Latin American Advisor, Inter-American Dialogue, "The election results (47 percent of the votes were against Chávez's official candidates) represent the end of Chávez's attempt to turn the country into a socialist state under the banner of the Bolivarian Revolution."Regarding the outcome of the recent polls for the political organizations opposing the Venezuelan ruler, Arria stressed that "the success of the opposition forces is even more admirable when you consider that they not only had to vote for their candidates, but had to defend them from an untrustworthy electoral arbiter totally subordinated to the regime."Further, Arria highlights the fact that President Chávez's "three closest lieutenants" were defeated in the election. In his view, such outcome "places the opposition on the way to win the 2009 elections for the National Assembly that today is fully controlled by Chávez, provided that they continue to work hard to preserve their unity."Arria points to the fact that "now wounded and resentful Chávez is more dangerous than before, and will not give up trying to turn the country into a totalitarian state."