our guests are michael shifter and miguel tinker salas. >> michael shifter, you said you expect theret of the next few months and election for a successor to chÁvez. looks likely that way. before chÁvez went into the hospital, he anointed nicolÁs maduro, the appointed vice president, not the elected vice- president, as his preferred successor. the constitution says if he is incapacitated, should be the head of the national assembly who takes office. could you talk about these two figures and the differences between them, proceed either by the opposition or even within the chÁvez camp? >> i think they're the two principal figures. nicholas maspeero is someone who previously was a union leader. -- nicholas maduro is someone who was previously the union leader. he is close, strong contacts with the cuban government. cabello is a military figure. as a very different background than maduro does. but for the purposes -- they are the leading figures. chÁvez was the only figure that could really unified whole movement. because of his charisma, his authority, and just his astute political oper