For more than a decade, political opponents of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have sought to unseat the fiery populist. Yet his rivals have proved to be their own worst enemy. They've bickered among themselves, waged electoral boycotts that played into Chavez's hands, and failed to show that they understand the plight of the country's poor.

But this past weekend, the opposition did the unthinkable: It coalesced behind a single candidate, Henrique Capriles, a youthful governor from the state of Miranda, to challenge Chavez in this year's presidential elections.