After 12 years of tyrannical rule, economic stagnation, rising crime rates, and rampant poverty, Venezuela will finally have the chance to change its future on Oct. 7, 2012; the day of the next presidential election. On election day, Venezuelans will have to choose between current President Hugo Chávez and his socialist/communist government and the opposition candidate and his or her capitalist ideals and reforms.

To prepare for this election, the opposition has finally united under what they call the Unified Democratic Platform (MUD). They have organized for primary elections to take place on Feb.12, which will determine which of the five opposition candidates will earn the chance to defeat Chávez.

However, the five candidates running against Chávez, Diego Arria, María Corina Machado, Pablo Medina, Pablo Pérez and Henrique Capriles Radonski, all represent very different perspectives. Diego Arria, the least popular candidate is also the one with the most political experience. He was governor of Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, ambassador to the UN and president of the UN’s Security Council. María Corina Machado, the only woman running in the elections was chosen in 2010 as representative of the National Assembly of Venezuela for Miranda, one of the most developed states in Venezuela. Pablo Medina was a representative and senator of the former Venezuelan Congress. and Pablo Pérez is the current governor of Zulia, one of the biggest and most developed states in Venezuela. Finally, Henrique Capriles Radonski was a representative of the Venezuelan Congress, mayor of Baruta—a municipality in Venezuela,—for two consecutive periods, and governor of Miranda.

The candidate who wins will be faced with the challenge of reconstructing a country that has declined politically, socially, and economically over the last 12 years. He or she will encounter a state that is devastated by violence, corruption, hunger, impunity, and political polarization. Every Venezuelan is hoping that one of the candidates will solve all of these problems, or at least create a reforms that will begin to resolve them. Each candidate has his or her own plan for how the government will tackle these issues, but what they all share is the belief that a massive reformation is necessary for Venezuela to return to the just country it once was.

I was fortunate enough to interview Henrique Capriles Radonski, the most favored candidate of the upcoming primary elections. Even though the elections are just one week away, Mr. Capriles was very cooperative in addressing my concerns about the situation in Venezuela. I asked of his opinion and political stance on  two of the main issues affecting Venezuela at the moment: education and political polarization:

IRReview: “Venezuela is undergoing a period of hatred and polarization, in which those supporting the government and [those supporting] the opposition are completely divided and unwilling to communicate. How do you propose to unify and reconcile the country?”

Henrique Capriles: “Venezuela needs a president who calls out for peace, dialogue, respect and tolerance to the different ways of thinking. I believe the president ..should lead by example. The Venezuela we want is a Venezuela that is for everyone. We propose a project in which everyone is included, everyone’s thoughts are respected and there is no one imposing ideologies. Our ideal is an example of that respect we promote and that dialogue that we have established with different institutions.

The reconciliation is possible because we, Venezuelans will unite when we start thinking of the country we want. We are all looking for a country in which we can live peacefully, children can go to school, and ..jobs and a quality health system are available to everyone. We deserve a way of life where money is sufficient at the end of the month. It is possible; there is a path for ‘the Venezuela of Progress.’”

IRR: “Nowadays education, primary and secondary, is deteriorating. Public and private schools are suffering from a lack of teachers and technology to improve the development of students. What is your plan to improve education in Venezuela?”

HC: “Our government plan is based on the improvement of the access, continuity and execution of the different educational programs of the Venezuelan educational system.

 The quality of the current educational plans will be greatly improved [under our plan]. We will encourage strategies that are in accordance with the reality Venezuela is facing, and that are linked with the development plans of the nation. This will be possible with integral programs, in which students are the center of the teaching/learning process from primary-level education to college-level education, including strategies with direct impact in areas such as reduction of violence, drug abuse, prevention of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Transportation, nutrition and scholarship programs will also be improved in quality and quantity.”

In the next 6 months Venezuelan’s have to make two choices that will decide the future of their country, as well as the future of their own lives. The outcome of the primary and presidential elections will determine whether Venezuela will continue to deteriorate in the hands of communism or face a period of reform that will revert the damages done in the last decade. Depending on the candidate chosen in the primary elections, this transformation will take a different form, reflective of the measures taken to change the established order of the country. Ultimately though, each of the five pre-candidates will opt for a change in the system President Chávez has imposed on the country for so long.