NEXT Sunday’s Presidential election in Venezuela has a special significance for the people of that country as well as for their Caribbean and Latin American neighbours, not the least being the factor of the very sad circumstances that made it necessary – the passing of President Hugo Chavez.

During his years as the democratically elected Head of State, Chavez had firmly stamped his leadership as a champion of the poor and disposed for more than the citizens of Venezuela.
Governments across Latin American and the Caribbean were to hail his commitment to defending political sovereignty, economic advancement and hemispheric security in tributes paid to him on the loss of his brave battle against cancer.
The choice of a new President is clearly a matter entirely for the electorate of Venezuela, and this much has been made clear in the current peaceful campaigning between the incumbent, President Nicolas Maduro (Chavez’s favoured colleague), and the opposition’s candidate, Henrique Capriles.
He is making a second victory bid, having been defeated at the last election by the three-term Chavez.  
Those who are committed to multi-party democracy, the rule of law and peaceful neighbourly relations among the member nations of this hemisphere, would naturally be expected to respect the decision of the Venezuelan electorate and avoid falling victim to orchestrated foreign-directed propaganda focused on the late President Chavez’s years of governance.
Guyana, for one, as a border neighbour of Venezuela, has objective reasons in hoping for a peaceful, democratic outcome in the choice of a new President. Under President Chavez’s leadership, Venezuela had clearly demonstrated a passion for fostering and deepening unity and security among hemispheric partners, even while having to contend with tensions in Caracas-Washington relations.
The sabre-rattling against Guyana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty that had once been so much an aspect of the political culture associated with some previous administrations in Caracas had been encouragingly replaced during the administrations of President Chavez.
In this context, it was of significance to note the observation offered by President Maduro at his swearing in ceremony, following the funeral of President Chavez when expressing appreciation for Heads of State and Government who were in attendance.
As reported in the media, President Maduro  declared during his speech at the National Assembly that he wished to “highlight something really significant…It is the presence in this room (at the National Assembly) of an extraordinary man of the Caribbean country (Guyana) with which others wanted us to  establish a feeling of hatred between our people and their people….
“Commander Chavez”, he added, “completely changed the foreign policy of Venezuela which now resolves outstanding issues based on brotherhood and not hatred and war which was the wish of the oligarchies and the imperialists…Here is the President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Donald Ramotar. Thank you for coming…”
As the governing and opposition parties of Venezuela and their contending candidates for the post-Chavez presidency would be aware, Guyana has at all times favoured a peaceful resolution to the conflict arising out of Venezuela’s colonial era claim to our 83,000 square miles of sovereign territory.
We, therefore, expect that this legacy of the Chavez presidency will survive beyond the formation of a new democratic administration in Caracas, even as Guyana shares the hope of its CARICOM partners for continuation of the PetroCaribe project that has been of significant economic assistance to countries of this region.
Currently, a quiet review is taking place of aspects of the PetroCaribe project that could well result in some adjustments in its overall operations. There is, of course, always room for enlightened flexibilities in any partnership development project, such as PetroCaribe.
We must, therefore, wait to learn how such “adjustments” could possibly occur without making a shamble of the creative, energising PetroCaribe partnership project as initiated, developed and sustained by President Chavez.