Pursuits
Venezuela's Socialist Leaders Court Celebrity Candidates
Chávez’s ruling party tries to woo young voters with pop stars
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Pop star El Potro (The Colt) has had countless hits and has married two Miss Venezuelas. Now he’d like one more thing: political office. Standing next to President Nicolas Maduro on Sept. 13 at the opening ceremony for the national youth games, El Potro asks the audience to elect him the next mayor of the Caracas borough of Sucre, continuing the late Hugo Chávez’s revolution.
Three celebrities are running in local elections as candidates for Chávez’s United Socialist Party, or PSUV. Besides Antonio “El Potro” Alvarez, Magglio Ordóñez, a former Major League Baseball All-Star, is running for mayor of the city of Puerto la Cruz. Winston Vallenilla, host of reality show Battle of the Sexes, wants the top job in Caracas’s Baruta borough.