President Hugo Chavez was in the capital, Caracas, but his parents and five brothers were in Barinas this week to celebrate their continued rule over a rural fiefdom dubbed the cradle of the Bolivarian revolution.
The president's father, Hugo de los Reyes, was handing over the state governor's reins to his eldest son, Adan. "Thanks be to God," beamed the relieved patriarch.
Not everyone was feeling grateful. A rebellion almost toppled the clan in regional elections last month and there have been cries - though so far no proof - of ballot box fraud.
It is the latest allegation against the so-called "royal family of Barinas". The family has long been accused of nepotism, corruption and tainting the principles of Latin America's leading leftist experiment.
"It is a corrupt dynasty. They talk about socialist revolution but they are practising vulgar capitalism," said Wilmer Azuaje, a politician who broke with the president's PSUV party and ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Barinas. "This country needs a socialist revolution but what we have is robbery, a robo-lution."
Despite such attacks the family survived a challenge from breakaway "chavistas" to eke out a narrow election victory that should secure its pre-eminence. But the perception of sleaze risks turning Barinas into a symbol of misrule.
That is something the president, 54, can ill afford as he pushes for a controversial referendum to abolish term limits. Pollsters say discontent over inflation, corruption and poor public services could sabotage his dream of indefinite re-election. He narrowly lost a similar referendum last year.
"Everybody thinks Chavez is honest but they can't say that about his government. And I don't think his family has behaved well," said Larry Birns, head of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, a Washington-based think-tank. "Corruption could have a chilling impact on Chavez's prospects if there isn't an all-out war against it."
The president has promised a "revolution within the revolution" to purge the rot, which he admits is a problem, but has defended his family.
Barinas is an unlikely revolutionary cradle: plains of cattle, corn and palm trees stretching towards the Andes with the occasional dusty, hardscrabble town. Yet it was from here that young Hugo emerged, via the army, to head a radical political movement named after the 19th century liberation hero Simon Bolivar.
The fervour that swept the former tank commander to the presidency in 1998 also swept his father, a retired schoolteacher, to the governor's mansion in their home state. While Hugo drove South America's energy giant toward socialism and showdowns with the US, his parents and brothers busied themselves in Barinas.
Argenis, 50, was made secretary of state, a specially created post to rove across local government. Narciso, 53, headed a health and sports programme. Anibal, 51, became mayor of the town of Sabaneta, the president's birthplace. Adelis, 43, became vice-president of a bank with close government links.
The president's mother Elena Frias, 73, headed a children's charity and overhauled a dowdy image with facelifts, designer clothes and a poodle named Coqui.
Link
And for those interested in the post electoral situation down at Barinas, this Link , from a local newspaper is quite enlightenning, although its in Spanish.
If a phrase is to be extracted out of said article, I think the most relevant and outspoken one is:
Los dientes y el higado: en su ultima visita pre-electoral el presidente Chavez dijo: "Si yo pierdo Barinas, sera para mi como un golpe en el higado" este era un mensaje bien claro dirigido a los opositores, Chavez no estaba dispuesto a entregar la gobernacion de Barinas, preferia perder los dientes y llevarse un golpe en el bolsillo.
"Should I ever lose in Barinas, it will be just like a blow to the liver", said hugo in his last preelectoral visit. The message was obviously forwarded right to the ears of the oposition and it was meant as his unwillingness to give it up to no other except his brother. He would rather lose his teeth or take the blow but in his pockets.
I could add the message as directed ALSO to his "followers" in decision making positions to not recognise any other such electoral turnout but his will.
