Capriles Rejects Maduro’s Homophobia

One of the images used by supporters of Hugo Chavez in the October 7 elections.
One of the photo montages used by supporters of Hugo Chavez in the October 7 elections to infer that Henrique Capriles is gay.

HAVANA TIMES — Venezuelan opposition candidate Henrique Capriles on Tuesday rejected as “homophobic” a statement made by interim President Nicolas Maduro, who suggested his opponent was homosexual.

Capriles said Maduro assertions are expressions of “fascism and the extreme right,” reported dpa news.

“I reject the homophobic statements by Nicolas today. This is not the first time. I believe in a society without exclusion. That’s my message to the country, so that no one feels excluded by race, creed, social status or sexual orientation. People should speak to reject exclusion,” he said in a news conference.

Also see: Maduro Denies Being Homophobic

Capriles, a 40-year-old single lawyer, warned Maduro that if he wanted to use such tactics “than go ahead.”

“If they want to use such an attack, then go ahead, but I am going to demand respect for Venezuelans. We want a society without exclusion,” he said.

At a political rally held yesterday after he registered his candidacy for the April 14 presidential elections, Maduro called his wife Cilia Flores to his side, and gave her a hug and kiss on the mouth.

“I do have a wife. I’m someone who likes women,” said Maduro at the massive rally.

On Sunday — when rejecting Capriles’s allegations that the interim government had lied to the country about the date of President Hugo Chavez’s death, announced last Tuesday — Maduro called Capriles a “little prince” and “a child of the bourgeoisie.”

On a previous occasion, Maduro said Capriles was the “quarterback” of the opposition’s defeat, having lost the October elections against Chavez, and then he accused challenger of traveling around abroad conspiring against the Bolivarian government.

“(Capriles) was hanging out in New York with a well trusted friend,” he said.

 

6 thoughts on “Capriles Rejects Maduro’s Homophobia”

  • Maduro’s snide remarks about Capriles show that he is neither emotionally or ethically fit to lead his nation into the new world order . His statements re: murder, embalming Chavez for posterity and Capriles’s marital status hearkens back to a period of caudillos & military strongmen that have kept certain Latin American countries reaching backwards while the rest of the world spins forward.

  • Cort, I know you speak spanish (my apologies to non-spanish speakers) so I have cut and pasted from an article that was published today. I think Maduro’s homophobic outburst will hurt him more than you think:

    “En Caracas, miembros de una organización homosexual venezolana criticaron las palabras de Nicolás Maduro, que tildaron de irrespetuosas y contrarias a la política de inclusión del fallecido presidente Hugo Chávez, y convocaron a una marcha en su rechazo, reportó EFE.

    “Yo sí tengo mujer”, dijo Maduro al inscribir su candidatura a las elecciones presidenciales, en alusión implícita a la soltería de su principal contrincante, el líder opositor Henrique Capriles. “Me gustan las mujeres”, añadió y besó a su esposa.

    Estas palabras no son de respeto “a los homosexuales ni a la mujer” y “demuestran su homofobia y su hombría”, dijo Ángel German, de la Fuerza por la Igualdad, que integra la llamada comunidad LGBTI (Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales, Transgeneristas e Intersexuales).

    “Queremos recordarle a Maduro que el presidente Hugo Chávez nunca se metió con los gays (…) e incluso hubo inclusión con nosotros”, agregó German en declaraciones a los periodistas en la plaza del este de Caracas, donde anunció que comenzará la marcha del próximo domingo.”

  • To be clear, I agree that Maduro faces an uphill battle. But Maduro has never had to campaign and appears prone to missteps. The whole gay thing is a good example as is the ‘shoot from the hip’ statement to mummify Chavez’ body, the unsubstatiated assassination attempts and super-secret Cancer inoculation. And. there is still a whole month left to put his other foot in his mouth.

  • Maurdo has rejected claims that he is against gay and lesbians and there are many grassroots groups of such who are proud members of about 2 dozen left wing parties including in the PSUV.

    He also stated he was not homophobic.

    Moses, Capriles support in the right wing coalition (MUD) and Catholic Church are the homophob’s and he is about 12 % behind in most of even the right wing polls.

    Dream on, Capriles loses big time, for now!

  • What a stupid move by Maduro! Capriles needs to pick up around a million more votes than he collected in the October election to win the Presidency in April. There are just about 7 million men eligible to vote in Venezuela. Let’s assume that 1 out of 7 are either gay or bisexual or strongly gay-sympathetic. That would be in line with the international norms in Latin America. There’s the 1 million votes that Capriles needs! Now if we can only get Maduro to say something equally stupid about Afro-Venezuelans, Capriles just may have a chance…

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