With less than five months until Venezuelan presidential elections, Hugo Chavez has still not registered his candidacy before the nation's electoral council.
The Venezuelan president in a telephone call from media agency, El Universal, in Venezuela, said, "although we haven't decided a date to register my candidacy, what is for sure is the fact that my name will appear in the electoral ballot."
Chavez is the head of the PSUV (United Socialist Party of Venezuela) and shared that the reason behind the delay in making his bid for the presidency official was due to a matter of following the party's planned program and choosing the best moment for the body.
Chavez was expected to begin his presidential campaign upon returning to Venezuela from Cuba almost three weeks ago, but informed publicly that he would give himself time to recover before initiating it. Since then, there has been no other news regarding the starting date, other than affirming that the campaign would begin soon.
"Everything must be done step by step," said Chavez. "The revolution's advance is already being felt in the streets under the clear direction of the campaign's commander Jorge Rodriguez," he added.
On May 28, El Universal again asked PSUV's vice president, Diosdado Cabello, regarding the expected registration date for Chavez. Although no date was informed, Cabello provided an interesting detail: "Chavez could register his candidacy via internet."
According to Cabello, the technological advances of the electorate council would allow Chavez to register his candidacy from a remote location.
Chavez's health is keeping Venezuelans uneasy due to the uncertainty it is casting over the future of Venezuelan politics. His sudden and seemingly improvised visits to Cuba have caused speculation over a probable deteriorating health.
Venezuelan opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles Radonsky, whose popularity has grown in the previous months, vowed to end the Chavez rule.
Polls in Venezuela, however, give very mixed results.
According to some independent polls, if the elections were to be held this weekend, Capriles would sweep Chavez with 85 percent of the votes. Other media agencies, like state-run Agencia Venezolana de Noticias, claim that Chavez leads with 20 to 30 percentage points and that his victory in October is virtually irreversible.
The firm Consultores 21, on March reported that Chavez and Capriles are practically in a tie with 46 percent in favor of Chavez and 45 percent in favor of Capriles, an existing a 2.3 percent margin of error applies, according to El Universal.
On another note, Chavez reached his 3 millionth followers on Twitter this week.
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