By Tim Padgett, Time.com, August 27, 2013

[....] Social polarization has sharpened in Venezuela since its leftist strongman president, Hugo Chávez, died in March and his hand-picked successor, Nicolás Maduro, eked out a disputed victory in a special presidential election in April. In May a mass brawl broke out inside the National Assembly. But this past month has turned particularly absurd. A glaring example is the homophobic smears that Chávez’s United Socialist Party (PSUV) is hurling at opposition pols in an attempt to portray them as corrupt. (In macho Venezuela, being branded gay apparently calls your probity into question as well.)

The PSUV, in fact, seems to have decided that questioning the sexual orientation of unmarried opposition leader Henrique Capriles — who still insists he defeated Maduro in April — is the best way to distract Venezuelans from the government’s utter inability to solve the country’s economic and security debacles [....]

But Capriles and the opposition have managed to sully their own image as well. In spite of the myriad national crises that have dropped into their political laps of late, including a currency collapse and chronic shortages of basic consumer goods, they’ve chosen this summer to become Venezuela’s version of “birthers.” [....]