Woody: For Maduro himself, it seems like a trend over the past couple of years is something of a shift from Chavismo [referring to the governance of Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez] to what could be called Madurismo, and now he has this party, Somos Venezuela, so ... are we seeing kind of a shift from the party of Chavez to a government that is built in Maduro's image? Is he assuming that kind of stature?
Ramsey: I think that that's certainly a play that Maduro wants to make. He, I think, would love to be able to capture the same crowds that Chavez did and command that same loyalty, but I think ultimately he hasn't been terribly successful at that.
There was a lot of speculation that the creation of this new party, Somos Venezuela, would amount to the herald of a new era of Madurismo, and the government did create this new party, and it certainly avoids using the traditional symbols of the ruling party, and it does espouse rhetoric that's more openly Madurista, but it actually didn't get that much support in the election.
If we're to believe the election results ... candidates for municipal councils of Somos Venezuela received less votes than [opposition candidates Javier Bertucci and Henri Falcon's] parties. So I think that that's definitely what Maduro would like, but I think it's easier said than done.
And I was watching his, whatever you want to call it, his swearing-in ceremony, [on Friday], I listened to his speech, and as much as I'm sure he would rather not have to rely on it, he invoked Chavez's name multiple times, and I think continues to try to cast himself as a son of Chavez.
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