Carabobo 2006 and 2012

Very roughly I drew two maps showing roughly the voting preference in the central state of Carabobo. Firstly, you see Carabobo in 2006.

Then you see Carabobo in 2012. Bear in mind that we have only provisional data. The Southern-most parish of Valencia, at the central bottom, has very few voters

Now look at how the opposition grew in different municipios:

There is a long way to go but in spite of it all: the opposition is slowly but clearly gaining terrain...even with record oil prices at the disposal of the caudillo.

Finally, you see the total amount of voters for each municipality this time around. There is a lot of work to be done specially in Southern Valencia, in Puerto Cabello, in Carlos Arvelo and in Los Guayos. The opposition needs to understand: a good national leader is excellent (and we have one or two), but equally important is to have a couple of dozen eloquent, charismatic national representatives who were born not only in Caracas and who may be willing to travel throughout the country from now on at least on an intermitent basis. This is the way it is done elsewhere. Venezuela is a primarily urban country but "urban" means above all Puerto Cabello or Punto Fijo, not Eastern Caracas or Northern Valencia. Capriles understood that. Others have to understand that message as well.