Young critics of Venezuela government put hope in elections

[Bacchus4.0]

http://news.yahoo.com/young-critics-venezuela-government-put-hope-elections-040537732.html



CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — ---------------------------



This week, the 23-year-old engineering student is canvassing on the resort island of Margarita as he campaigns to represent the South American country's opposition coalition in upcoming legislative elections.

Rico is the youngest of a crop of new candidates who raged in the streets against Venezuela's socialist administration last spring, but now are putting their faith in the ballot box as the best way to force President Nicolas Maduro from power. More than a third of the candidates running in the opposition coalition's primary elections on Sunday are younger than 40.

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Last year's sometimes bloody demonstrations against the country's mounting economic chaos petered out after a government crackdown. But the problems young people protested — including severe shortages and the world's highest inflation — have only worsened amid a plunge in oil prices. Oil revenues fund almost all of Venezuela's government spending.

The country's opposition coalition, which holds a third of the legislature, now has a shot at dominating an election for the first time since the late President Hugo Chavez launched his socialist revolution 16 years ago. If the coalition wins, it's expected to use its legislative power to mount a recall referendum against Maduro.



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