Capriles: Enabling law does not empower people but Chávez

Horses, tractors, and a sea of people accompanied the candidate of the opposition Democratic Unified Panel (MUD), Henrique Capriles Radonski, in a walk dubbed the "Hurricane of Progress" in Calabozo, state of Guárico.

During his rally, the challenger criticized President Hugo Chávez for using his special ruling powers in order to enact 54 bills. Capriles said that the government's trumpeted participatory and protagonist democracy "like many other things, is something that has been left aside." Chávez was granted special ruling powers in 2010 to face an emergency situation caused by heavy rains.

"The last day (before expiration of the special ruling powers), 11 laws were approved (...) This is how power is utilized these days: there is no longer debate, there is no longer participatory and protagonist democracy. The people no longer have a say on which legal instruments are passed and, when you look at it, these laws have given more power to the man who is currently in power. They have forgotten to give power to the people," Capriles said. He assured Guárico people and the whole country that "they have all the power to change this stark reality on October 7."

"Elect a better Venezuela, elect a path that paves the way for work to all and a solution to the problems of us Venezuelan people," he manifested.

Capriles Radonski said that the Executive Office "wants to save the planet, the human species, I want to find and deliver solutions to our country's problems first."

Translated by Alejandro Osio