Nothing seems to irk Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president since 1999, more than the rise of a possible rival within the ranks of his Bolivarian revolution. His recent brush with mortality, in the shape of a cancerous tumour excised by Cuban doctors last June, has turned the question of succession into one of more than academic interest. In October, moreover, he will seek a new term in an election that some polls suggest he might lose. Talk in Caracas had begun to focus on Nicolas Maduro, the foreign minister, as the most likely dauphin. But he has suddenly been cut down to size. In announcements over Christmas, Mr Chavez shuffled the pack of his leading aides. The "bourgeoisie", he said, saw Mr Maduro, a former bus driver and union leader, as a potential successor. But to the president he looks more like a state governor. "It's a premonition I have," Mr Chavez declared. "I see him as governor of Carabobo," a populous and politically important state close to the capital, currently run by the opposition. Similarly sidelined were the vice-president, Elias Jaua (pictured above, to the left of Mr Chavez), and the interior minister, Tareck el Aissami. Both men, along with the defence minister, General Carlos Mata Figueroa, will seek to wrest key states from the opposition in gubernatorial elections in December.
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机译：自1999年以来，委内瑞拉总统雨果·查韦斯（Hugo Chavez）似乎对他不无生气，这比玻利瓦尔革命队伍中可能出现的竞争对手的崛起还重要。他最近的死亡原因是古巴医生于去年6月切除了一种癌性肿瘤，致使死亡问题变成了继任问题，而不仅仅是学术兴趣之一。此外，10月，他将在选举中寻求新任期，一些民意测验显示他可能会失败。在加拉加斯举行的对话已开始把重点放在外交部长尼古拉斯·马杜罗（Nicolas Maduro）身上，他是最有可能成为皇太子的。但是他突然被缩小了尺寸。在圣诞节期间的宣布中，查韦斯先生将他的主要助手们洗牌了。他说，“资产阶级”认为前公共汽车司机和工会领袖马杜罗先生是潜在的继任者。但是对总统来说，他看起来更像是州长。查韦斯先生宣布：“这是我的预感。” “我认为他是卡拉博博的州长，”卡拉布博是一个人口众多且在政治上很重要的州，靠近首都，目前由反对派管理。副总统埃利亚斯·贾阿（Elias Jaua）（上图，查韦斯先生的左边）和内政部长塔雷克·艾尔萨米（Tareck el Aissami）也受到类似的旁观。双方将与国防部长卡洛斯·马塔·菲格罗亚将军一道，试图在12月的州长选举中从反对派手中夺回关键国家。
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