海角大神

The streets of Caracas are back to normal just six months after the biggest anti-government protests in over a decade. Tens of thousands of demonstrators angered by a listing economy and soaring crime spent weeks听marching, burning tires, and calling for a change of leadership.

But even though the streets are calm again,听the election of a new opposition leader could represent a longer term challenge to Venezuela's socialist government.听

Jes煤s Torrealba, is the new executive secretary of the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), an umbrella group of opposition parties.听 His job is to reunite the MUD after a tumultuous couple of years of high-stake election losses, and to help choose a candidate to take on President Nicol谩s Maduro in the next election.

"[Mr. Torrealba] certainly better understands the dynamic in the shanty towns and is better able to connect with disenchanted Chavitas,鈥� says Diego Moya-Ocampos, a senior political risk analyst for the Americas at IHS in London.

But, that may not be "enough to really turn the tables" for the opposition, Mr. Moya Ocampos says听.

Class divide

For the past fifteen years, since Hugo Ch谩vez rose to power, the opposition has struggled to make headway against the Chavista听government. Historically led by representatives of Venezuela's wealthy class, the opposition is seen as听out of touch with the poor, who overwhelmingly voted former President Ch谩vez into power.听

Mr. Torrealba says his background makes him the man to break this pattern.听鈥淎ll my life, I鈥檝e lived in poor areas,鈥� he says in an interview with the 海角大神 Science Monitor. 鈥淏ut we have the resources in Venezuela to construct a first world country. Instead we鈥檙e regressing.鈥�

He hopes to take to the streets, just as Ch谩vez did during his own campaign a decade and a half ago, and win over the support of those disillusioned by Chavismo. A former community leader in Caracas, for years Torrealba听hosted an iconic television program, "Radar of the Barrios", in which he tackled issues faced by poorer neighborhoods.

Even as the street protests have faded,听Maduro鈥檚 approval ratings have slumped into the thirties. Inflation in Venezuela is running at听more than 60 percent, there are shortages of the most basic goods from shampoo to insect repellent, and the country suffers one of the world鈥檚 highest murder rates with 53.7 homicides per 100,000 people, according to the United Nations. Local NGOs put the figure much higher.

Maduro won elections in April last year, a month after Ch谩vez鈥檚 death. He did so with a margin of less than 250,000 votes against Henrique Capriles, the first of the opposition candidates to come close to tackling the government. Many credit Mr. Capriles' near success on his attempts to engage the poor.

Capriles toured the country鈥檚 barrios听and vowed to continue Ch谩vez鈥檚 popular social programs, which won him support. But pro-government media听

The tactic did have an impact. Yet, pro-government media publicized his family鈥檚 vast wealth, including a major Venezuelan cinema chain. Torrealba鈥檚 more modest upbringing could be a game-changer. While Capriles did his best to appear to be one of the poor, many were aware that in reality he was born with a silver spoon.

'Return to the past'?

Torrealba hopes to make headway in National Assembly elections next year. The opposition could then try to unseat Maduro in 2016, by calling a referendum, otherwise its next chance would come in presidential elections in 2019.听

If Torrealba is successful in bringing the opposition to power in Venezuela, he says his priority will be the floundering economy.听Venezuela has the world鈥檚 largest oil reserves, and Torrealba says he wants to learn from oil-rich and politically stable nations like Norway on how to best manage its resources.听

鈥淭he challenge now is to reposition Venezuela as the vanguard of modernity in the region,鈥� says Torrealba.

First, however, he must convince those that no longer believe in Ch谩vez that the MUD is a promising alternative 鈥� and not a return to the elitist power structure that ruled Venezuela before Ch谩vez burst onto the scene.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want a return to the past,鈥� says Torrealba. 鈥淎ll regression to the past is upsetting and sadly that is what we are living in now.鈥�