By Pip Hinman, CaracasAbout 3 million people march.Nothing quite prepares you for a first visit to Venezuela ― especially when the country is polarised between two very different visions for the future.This is how it was just before the October 7 presidential elections, which socialist President Hugo Chavez won with 55% of the vote in the largest turnout, more than 81%, in Venezuelan history.The polarisation was marked by the fact that Chavez, who ran on a platform for a transition to socialism, and the opposition, whose right-wing candidate Henri Capriles ran on a platform that claimed to support Chavezs famous social missions, received their highest votes ever since Chavez was first elected in 1998.
via Eyewitness: Venezuelans vote for socialism | Green Left Weekly.
