, Columnist
Venezuela's Turn for a Birther Conspiracy
In Venezuela, a country with a history of coup plotting, a month-long opposition campaign to paint leftist President Nicolas Maduro as a presidency-usurping foreigner has proved embarrassing.
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The "birther" movement that contested President Barack Obama's presidential legitimacy marked a low point in U.S. politics. In Venezuela, a country with a history of coup plotting, a month-long opposition campaign to paint leftist President Nicolas Maduro as a presidency-usurping foreigner has proved equally embarrassing.
The case made fresh headlines on Tuesday when Henrique Capriles, the 41-year-old opposition leader who narrowly lost the presidency to Maduro last April, demanded in a Webcast speech that the political heir to Hugo Chavez clarify his citizenship status: "Where were you born Nicolas? Venezuelans want to know. Will you lie? Show your birth certificate."