…and is greeted by a “red tide.” It’s been a bit surreal since we’ve been here, because Chávez left the day we arrived, for a whistle-stop world tour. Meanwhile, the presidential campaigns officially kicked off in his absence. It’s been surreal because the opposition is talking all day long, attempting to construct the image of a “unitary candidate” in Manuel Rosales (despite the fact that there are 28 opposition candidates registered).

When we hear from Chávez, it’s more about trade and energy deals with the country he’s visiting than the election. This isn’t a bad thing, and his speech in Syria was especially excellent, but it can play a bit badly. Teodoro Petkoff’s newspaper Tal Cual, for example, has been running cover stories for weeks about how much Chávez travels. But perhaps this tactic of the escualidos is a sign of weakness rather than a strength: Petkoff spoke last week on Globovision’s piece of shit evening show “Buenas Noches,” and claimed to have seen recent polls showing Chávez dropping below 50% and Rosales rising above 40%.

This was either a flat out lie or bad polling (most likely the former, since these numbers haven’t been published). Numbers came out today in Ultimas Noticias which showed Chávez climbing to 57% and Rosales reaching an impressive 5% (at the expense, it should be noted, of the other well-known opposition candidate, Benjamin Rausseao, “Er Conde de Guaracho”).