"Uh! Ah! Chavez is here to stay!"

By: Alvaro F. Fernandez

"Uh! Ah! Chavez no se va!" was everywhere last week when I visited Caracas. What I saw was a sea of red with a big white NO wherever you turned. A NO that signifies the vote against undoing Hugo Chavez' populist revolution during a referendum election that will take place this Sunday, August 15.

Chavez, Venezuela's democratically elected leader, is often criticized by many—inside and outside the country—for not being, acting and speaking as the president of a large and resource-rich country should, they say. I wanted to see for myself what the Venezuelan commotion—pro and con—was all about.

Believe it or not, the six little words at the beginning seem to define the latest brouhaha. Although it doesn't rhyme as in Spanish, the English translation is: Uh! Ah! Chavez is not leaving. And if my five day stay in Venezuela is any indication, then count on the strong possibility that the Revolution will not soon be overturned. In fact, it seems to be consolidating and growing stronger as many of the Chavez-instituted grassroots projects are starting to flower and garner tangible results.

Full Article : venezuelanalysis.com