A skeptical view of Venezuela’s election this weekend

Michael Harvey, president of the Canadian Council for the Americas has a very interesting Op-Ed in the Canadian newspaper The National Post in which he takes a skeptical view of propositions that Chávez will lose or accept a loss in this weekends Venezuelan presidential election. Harvey is worth listening to. Not only does he speak fluent Bolivarian, but he also has spent most of the last fifteen years working very in the region, including extended postings in Venezuela, Colombia and Brazil. Substitute Australia (or any other country, really) for Canada in his piece and you have a pretty good set of recommendations for Canberra if events get unduly exciting next week.