CARACAS, April 1 (Reuters) – State governor Henrique
Capriles is the opposition coalition’s candidate to fight
President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela’s October presidential
election.
Here are some facts about him:
* The wiry Capriles, 39, is governor of Venezuela’s
second-most populous state, Miranda, which includes parts of
Caracas. The state ranges from the Venezuelan capital’s largest
shantytown Petare to fishing villages and beaches on the
Caribbean coast.
* A law graduate, Capriles became Venezuela’s youngest
legislator at the age of 26, then won the mayorship of a Caracas
municipality before beating a die-hard Chavez loyalist, Diosdado
Cabello, to the Miranda governor’s office in 2008. He says that
surprise win against a government heavyweight bodes well for his
presidential duel with Chavez.
* The charismatic and energetic Capriles rides a motorbike
and heads into slums most days to supervise projects and talk to
working-class voters. Some say he has deliberately cultivated an
almost Chavez-like image of being on the street and in constant
contact with the poor.
* Capriles’ maternal grandparents, the Radonskis, fled the
Nazis, arriving in Venezuela with just a suitcase stuffed with
clothes. Two great-grandparents died in a concentration camp.
“Imagine that some people in the Chavez government are so
ignorant they actually call me a Nazi,” he says.
* His grandparents set up a lucrative cinema business in
Venezuela and, through them, Capriles once met legendary Mexican
comedian Mario Moreno — best known as “Cantinflas.”
* A basketball player and sports lover, Capriles says he
relaxes by finding some friends for a game or going for a quiet
run after dark.
* Like Chavez, Capriles has been jailed. He was imprisoned
for four months on charges of fomenting a protest at the Cuban
Embassy in 2002, although he says he was mediating. He was
acquitted of the charges at trial, though there is chatter in
political circles that they could one day be revived.
* If elected, Capriles wants to copy Brazil’s “modern left”
model of economic and social policies. On the campaign trail, he
has sought to appeal to traditional Chavez supporters, stressed
inclusiveness rather than attacking the president, and urged
Venezuelans to “get on the bus” for change.
* Despite his Jewish roots, Capriles is a practicing
Catholic, who says his faith deepened in jail. He wears a rosary
and likes to visit a shrine on Margarita island each year.
* The governor is single despite a torrent of marriage
offers via Twitter and Facebook during his campaign for the
opposition primary. He jokes that he will find his wife and
start a family in his own good time.
* Though describing himself as center-left, Capriles belongs
to the Primero Justicia party whose roots are right-wing.
* Government officials target his wealthy background,
association with conservative politicians linked to Venezuela’s
traditional elite, and his role in the Cuban Embassy affair, to
try to discredit him with voters.
* Should he win, Capriles would be Venezuela’s youngest
president. He projects an image of youth and energy, and nearly
always wears informal clothes and a baseball cap.
* Capriles is the candidate of the Democratic Unity
coalition that groups about 30 parties and organizations making
up the bulk of Venezuela’s opposition.
(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Daniel Wallis and
Kieran Murray)
