Raul Castro Congratulates Maduro
HAVANA TIMES — Cuban President Raul Castro congratulated Nicolas Maduro today for his tight victory in the Venezuelan elections on Sunday.
“In the name of the government and people of Cuba, I congratulate you for this extraordinary victory which demonstrates the strength of the ideas and work of Comandante Hugo Chávez.
“This decisive win and your loyalty to the people will assure the continuity of the Bolivarian Revolution and the genuine integration of Our America. On behalf of the government and people of Cuba, I congratulate you for this important victory,” said Castro on Monday.
Maduro won the presidential elections on Sunday by a 50.66% to 49.07% margin, thus obtaining the right to replace the late Hugo Chavez for the 2013-2019 term.
Chavez had won the elections on October 7, 2012 against the same opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles, but by a 55-44% margin. He passed away on March 5, 2013 after a nearly two-year battle with cancer.
The election had great significance for Cuba, as Capriles had promised if elected to end the preferential oil shipments to the island.
“Cuban President Raul Castro congratulated Nicolas Maduro”
This election is good news for Havana, but Venezuela is in for a load of trouble. During the campaign, Maduro promised to increase the minimum wage by 45% this year, an extraordinarily brazen act vote buying on a mass scale. That might sound wonderful to the poor, but they will be the ones to suffer when inflation, already running at 25%, really takes off as a result of such foolish economics.