Below link is a 7/31/09 article. If Chavez’ main opponent won the election, do we have any info about this man, Arias? Do we have an idea what kind of a ruler he would be? My own google says he is

Francisco Arias Cardenas. Another 5/06 article says he is “…one of Chávez’s oldest friends, Francisco Arias Cárdenas. Arias Cárdenas has known Chávez since they were cadets in the army in the 1970s. Together they plotted a failed coup and spent over a year in prison. After the aborted uprising transformed both into national heroes, Arias Cárdenas turned on his old friend and ran against him for president in 2000. Now they are in the midst of a slow reconciliation. Chávez is a superb strategist. When we were in the army, Chávez took a course in psychological warfare in El Salvador. He became a big proponent of reverse psychology, baiting opponents into underestimating your strength…”

http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=83013&page=1

(The Internet site of local radio station Union Radio updated its own exit poll, and gave

Chavez 57.04 percent, compared to 39.31 percent for Arias).