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VIO on the Dec 2 Referendum and the Nasty Sabotage of Oppositionists
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
[Lots here on the referendum, dishonest re****ting on pre-election
polls, wild overblowing of the "student" and other opposition,
etc. There's a bit more from the mainstream press in this VIO re****t,
but it's all of the "Chavez is a dictator" variety and some of it is
poison from the Miami Herald, to whom we rarely give houseroom, let
along any links - NY Transfer]
Venezuela Information Office (VIO)
http://www.rethinkvenezuela.com
excerpted from VIO Venezuela Daily News Roundup - Nov 30, 2007
[President Chavez will accept the results of the referendum on
constitutional reforms regardless of what they may be, according to a
re****t by Bloomberg today. Bernardo Alvarez, Ambassador of Venezuela
to the U.S., expressed confidence in the democratic process, saying,
"We have an electoral system that has been proven many times."
Political campaigns on constitutional reforms wrapped up yesterday as
Venezuela prepares for the December 2nd referendum. A peaceful
opposition march took place in Caracas, according to the AP. Reuters
takes a paradoxical quote from a Datanalysis pollster, who said,
"Chavez may win, but it won't be due to majority sup****t (for the
reform)." In contrast, new statistics released Wednesday by the
respected firm Consultores 30.11 indicate that the vote would be about
60% in favor of the reforms versus around 40% opposed. The AFP also
re****ts on the opposition march, but wrongly states that no electoral
observers are present in Venezuela. On the contrary, official observer
missions of U.S. groups the NAACP and the National Lawyers Guild will
be present to monitor the voting.
Time Magazine re****ts that President Chavez "is quite likely to squeak
through with a win in this weekend's referendum ? legitimately." While
critics of the process are said to call Chavez a "democratator" (that
is, a democratically elected dictator), respect for the political path
of Venezuela as chosen by voters deserves respect. Time writes that
Chavez is leading a trend in Latin America whereby politics are finally
reflecting the will of the people. -VIO]
***
- -----------------------------------
If you want to take AP's word for it, go right ahead, but there are
much more complete and grown-up descriptions than AP's
"glance" (including links to the complete Venezuelan Constitution AND
the reforms being voted on in the referendum, here:
* What Is Venezualan Constitutional Reform Really About?
http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20071119/072065.html
* Venezuelas Constitutional Reform: An Article-by-Article Summary
http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/Week-of-Mon-20071119/072067.html
... and of course, the majority of the proposals are not Chavez's; they
were proposed by the Assembly. The articles above will even tell you
which ones were proposed by the President versus the Assembly.
- -NY Transfer
- ---------------------------------------------------
AP via Intl Herald Tribune - November 28, 2007
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/29/america/LA-GEN-Venezuela-Vote-Glance.php
A glance at some of Chavez's proposed changes to Venezuela's
constitution
The Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan voters decide Sunday whether to make 69
changes to the constitution that were approved by lawmakers allied with
President Hugo Chavez. If "yes" wins a simple majority, these will be
among the key changes:
_ Presidential terms are lengthened from six to seven years. Terms
limits are eliminated, allowing the president to run for re-election
indefinitely.
_ The president is granted control over the Central Bank, which
previously had autonomy. The president is also granted authority to set
monetary policy and administer international reserves.
_ The official workday is reduced from eight hours to six hours.
_ The minimum voting age is reduced from 18 to 16.
_ Creation of a fund to pay social security benefits for the first time
to workers in the informal economy, such as maids and street vendors,
who make up an estimated 45 percent of the labor force.
_ The president may declare a state of emergency for an unlimited
period, as long as "the causes that motivated it remain." During this
period various constitutional rights "may be restricted or suspended
tem****arily," a change that critics warn would let the government
detain citizens without charges and censor the news media. Certain
rights are maintained at all times, including the right to legal
defense.
_ Raises the percentage of the electorate needed to petition for
referendums. For a recall referendum on the president or another
elected official, signatures are needed from 30 percent of voters
instead of the current 20 percent. For a referendum on the
constitution, 25 percent is needed, also up from 20 percent.
_ Popular participation in government "for the construction of a
Socialist Democracy." Chavez calls it a new "geometry of power" aimed
at greater self-government through neighborhood-based communal and
worker councils.
_ A socio-economic system based on "socialist, anti-imperialist
principles" and promoting "humanistic values of cooperation and the
preponderance of common interests above the individual."
_ Large land estates, or latifundia, are prohibited. A government
agrarian reform has already turned over more than 2.5 million acres of
arable land to poor farmers on the grounds it was underused or that
owners lacked adequate titles.
_ The state may provisionally occupy property slated for expropriation
before a court has ruled.
_ Creates three new cl***** of property in addition to private and
state property. Social property belongs to the people as a whole and
may either be held on their behalf by the state, or assigned to people
of a determined area by the state. Collective property is common and
assigned to a particular group, such as a communal council. Mixed
property would exist as combinations of social, collective, state and
private property.
_ A territorial reorganization of the country. The president, with
approval by a majority of the National Assembly, may establish federal
territories, municipalities, provinces, cities and other jurisdictions.
The president appoints and can remove leaders of these new
jurisdictions. Opponents say Chavez could use these powers to change
voting districts and eliminate elected offices held by opponents.
Chavez denies it, saying the changes would improve government
efficiency. Chavez says he would appoint regional vice presidents,
which would apparently have more power than state governors, to
decentralize and focus on local needs.
_ Financing of "associations with political aims" is to be regulated by
law. Foreign funding is prohibited for such groups. Critics warn this
could be used to strangle human rights groups and other
non-governmental organizations.
_ University students, faculty and workers are granted equal power to
choose administrators at public universities by direct vote. Currently
faculty votes are weighted and non-teaching employees do not have a
vote. Chavez's sup****ters say the change will bring more democracy to
campuses that have been bastions of anti-Chavez sentiment.
***
Bloomberg -November 29, 2007
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aNJhX4kUDQ1I
Venezuelan Envoy Says Chavez Will Accept Dec. 2 Vote
By Viola Gienger
Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S. said his country's Dec. 2 referendum
will be free and fair and President Hugo Chavez will honor the result
even if voters defeat the proposals to expand his authority.
``We have an electoral system that has been proven many times,''
Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez told re****ters today at his residence in
Wa****ngton.
If opponents defeat the referendum, ``of course we will respect it,''
he said. Chavez said yesterday in a televised speech that he ``will
start to pack my bags because I will have to leave the government.''
Alvarez defended Venezuela's political and economic system, saying
media outlets operate freely and private enterprise has thrived under
Chavez. The president faces opposition to his proposals from student
groups and some former sup****ters.
Comando Nacional de la Resistencia, a Venezuelan opposition group that
Chavez accuses of plotting his ouster, reversed its call to abstain
from the referendum.
The CNR, in a statement posted to its Web site, said a massive voter
turnout would defeat the Dec. 2 initiative to approve 69 changes to the
constitution enlarging Chavez's power.
Chavez's proposal aims to tighten his grip on power by eliminating term
limits for the presidency, aboli****ng central bank autonomy, weakening
state and municipal governments, and making it easier for the
government to expropriate private property, among other changes.
***
AP via Wash Post - November 30, 2007
http://www.wa****ngtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112901354.html
Venezuelans Protest Chavez's Referendum
By Fabiola Sanchez
The Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela -- More than 100,000 people flooded the streets of
the capital Thursday to oppose a referendum that would eliminate term
limits for President Hugo Chavez and help him establish a socialist
state in Venezuela.
Blowing whistles, waving placards and shouting "Not like this!" the
marchers carried Venezuelan flags and dressed in blue _ the chosen
color of the opposition _ as they streamed along Bolivar Avenue.
"This is a movement by those of us who oppose a change to this
country's way of life, because what (the referendum) aims to do is
impose totalitarianism," said former lawmaker Elias Matta. "There can't
be a communist Venezuela, and that's why our society is reacting this
way."
No official crowd estimates were available, but opposition politician
Leopoldo Lopez said about 160,000 protesters filled the avenue, and
thousands more spilled over onto surrounding roads. The rally was among
the largest by the opposition in recent years.
The rally marked the close of the opposition's campaign against the
proposed constitutional changes, which will be submitted to a vote
Sunday. Chavez plans to lead rallies in favor of the reforms Friday.
Venezuelans will vote on 69 proposed changes to nation's 1999
constitution that would, among other things, eliminate presidential
term limits, create forms of communal property and give greater power
to the presidency.
Chavez denies that the proposals are a bid to seize unchecked power,
saying the constitutional overhaul is necessary to give more of a voice
to the people through community-based councils.
Rallies for and against the amendments have surged across this South
American country in the run-up to the vote, occasionally leading to
clashes. There were no immediate re****ts of violence Thursday.
Chavez's ex-wife, a critic of his administration, said the political
strife in Venezuela has turned it in to "time-bomb," given the
polarization and the amount of guns on the streets.
"The gun powder is spread, and all it needs is a detonator," said
Marisabel Rodriguez in comments to Colombia's Caracol Radio, who
worried that any "nonsense" by the opposition or the government could
set off a wave of violence.
On Wednesday, hundreds of stone-throwing students clashed with police
and the Venezuelan national guard in a protest against the
constitutional overhaul. Security forces responded with water cannons
and tear gas.
Opposition leaders appeared confident Thursday that they have enough
votes to defeat the referendum. Chavez, who was handily re-elected to
another six-year term last year, has predicted a "knockout" victory.
Henrique Capriles, mayor of the Caracas borough of Baruta, said even
some people who sup****t Chavez are against the constitutional changes.
"If there is transparency, whatever the result, we will recognize it,"
Capriles said.
But he warned, "We won't put up with a fraudulent process."
***
Reuters - Nov 30, 2007
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSN2924927920071130?sp=true
Chavez opponents show force in referendum rally
By Saul Hudson
CARACAS - More than 100,000 Venezuelans held a rally on Thursday in the
opposition's biggest show of force before a tight vote on whether
President Hugo Chavez will be allowed to run for re-election as long as
he lives.
A sea of "No" voters surged across the capital Caracas into a central
square, vowing to stop Chavez from winning more power in a referendum
on Sunday in a polarized nation that already has few checks on its
leftist firebrand president.
A student movement that rose up in May when Chavez shut a television
station has led an outcry against reforms that the opposition political
parties, the Roman Catholic Church and human rights groups denounce as
authoritarian.
"We are winning back democracy," Freddy Guevara, a student leader
wearing a red T-****rt emblazoned with "No," shouted from a podium at
the rally. "There is no doubt that if everybody goes to vote, we will
win."
The crowd waved Venezuela's red-blue-and-yellow flag and chanted "No,
no, no" against a constitutional overhaul that also enshrines socialism
as a state priority.
Chavez usually coasts to victory against a fragmented opposition. But
polls show the anti-U.S. president and Cuba ally in the toughest
campaign of his career.
Most surveys show a statistical tie between the "Yes" and "No" camps,
although Chavez may have an advantage because he can activate the
state-backed, get-out-the-vote machinery that has overwhelmed the
opposition in the past.
The man who ends his hours-long speeches with a cry of "homeland,
socialism or death," is popular among the urban and rural poor for
spending the OPEC nation's oil revenue on schools and food subsidies.
But former allies have split with the self-styled revolutionary over a
constitutional overhaul that would also allow him to censor the media
and detain people without charges if he declares an "emergency."
Chavez calls his opponents oligarchs and dismisses the students, who
draw most of their sup****t from the middle- and upper-cl*****, as
"little rich kids."
FRAUD AND PEACE
Thursday's peaceful rally contrasted with a campaign marred by violence
- -- including the shooting death of a Chavez sup****ter this week.
Venezuela's debt bonds have been underperforming the market due to
investors' concerns over possible political turmoil if the losing side
accuses the winner of fraud.
Many Venezuelans doubt the impartiality of the election authority.
Chavez's vice president used to head the body.
"If you try and cheat, then the people will pour into the streets to
defend the vote, defend our country and defend what we believe in,"
Henrique Capriles, a mayor of an area in Caracas, warned Chavez at the
rally.
In previous campaigns, the opposition has also held massive rallies
only to lose soundly at the ballot box.
And this time, with no single leader and few financial backers, they
have shown less organizational power and only been able to hold a few
large rallies in the capital.
In contrast, Chavez has constantly campaigned across the country,
reaching areas where the opposition has less sup****t.
While Chavez has added sweeteners to the reform such as shortening the
workday, his moves to expand power are generally unpopular. That has
left voters split, making turnout crucial in deciding the result,
pollsters say.
"Through his political machinery, resources, pressure, etc, Chavez
should have the better political operation," said Luis Vicente Leon,
head of pollster Datanalisis. "So he may win, but it won't be due to
majority sup****t (for the reform)."
***
AFP - Npv 29,2007
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hjqmghc5QFu2AvZtrEz6TZnbxmOw
Referendum opponents stage final rally in Venezuela
Agence France Presse
CARACAS (AFP) ? Tens of thousands of people protesting a referendum
they said aims to turn Venezuela into a version of communist Cuba
marched through central Caracas Thursday, yelling slogans against
President Hugo Chavez.
The mass demonstration -- the last before the referendum on Sunday --
denounced reforms that would allow Chavez to run for re-election
indefinitely, gag the press in emergencies, and impose what he calls
"economic socialism" on the country.
"It's not socialism -- it's communism, like the one they have in Cuba,"
said one protester, Virginia Zapata, a 29-year-old dentist.
Around her, the crowd cheered at passing news helicopters and waved
anti-Chavez banners, as smoke from meats being grilled by op****tunist
vendors wafted over them.
Many wore t-****rts with the words "Why don't you just shut up?" -- a
highly publicized slapdown King Juan Carlos of Spain gave to Chavez at
a summit earlier this month after the Venezuelan president insulted a
former Spanish prime minister.
At the head of the march, student leader Freddy Guevara boasted that
the protesters filled the central Bolivar Avenue "without buses" -- a
dig at Chavez' tactic of bussing in sup****ters to his rallies.
Immediately, the crowd took up the chant: "We're sticking it to Chavez,
without buses! Without buses!"
The students have been urging a big turnout on Sunday, encouraged by
recent polls suggesting the "no" vote could triumph.
But the margin is so slim that many fear the result will be contested
and trigger street violence.
Unlike in past Venezuelan elections, international observers have not
been invited to monitor balloting, opening the way for allegations of
fraud.
Leopoldo Lopez, the opposition mayor of the upmarket Chacao district in
Caracas, told re****ters that "violence would only benefit the
government."
Chavez, who has raised the pitch of his populist rhetoric as the
referendum date nears, vows he will "neutralize" any unrest.
He claims the US government is fomenting unrest to challenge the
referendum. His foreign minister went on television late Wednesday
waving what he said was a Central Intelligence Agency plan to secure a
"no" victory.
A spokesperson of the US State Department on Thursday urged all
Venezuelans to exercise their "inalienable right" to vote in Sunday's
referendum, but stopped short of suggesting how they should vote.
According to the private polling institute Datanalisis, 44.6 percent of
voters reject the constitutional reforms, while 30.8 percent are in
favor.
Another survey firm, Hinterlaces, put the split as 46 percent against
and 45 percent for.
"There is a sector of Chavez sup****ters who don't seem very enthused by
the reforms. This doesn't mean that Chavez will lose the referendum,
but the results will be much more ambivalent than in previous
elections," one analyst, German Campos of the firm Consultores 30.11,
told re****ters.
***
TIME Rag - Nov 30, 2007
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1689338,00.html
A Democratator [sic] in Venezuela?
By Tim Padgett
In spite of the demonstrations in the streets of Caracas, Hugo Ch!vez
is quite likely to squeak through with a win in this weekend's
referendum ? legitimately. Nonetheless, critics say he may be morphing
into a "democratator" ? a democratically elected dictator.
Elections and plebiscites are a sort of a moral Teflon for Ch!vez
against charges from enemies like the U.S. that he's another Latin
despot. (And he has developed some expertise at them: he has been
elected three times and beat back a recall referendum in 2004.) But
despite Ch!vez's claims that he's forging "a more genuine democracy"
that finally enfranchises the nation's majority poor, Venezuela hardly
looks poised to become a showcase for the separation of powers. The
National Assembly and Supreme Court are Ch!vez's virtual rubber stamps;
and, while free speech admittedly is still intact in Venezuela, he has
increasingly defined opposition to his ideological agenda as
counter-revolutionary treason. When Ch!vez pal and former Defense
Minister General Ral Baduel ? who helped put Ch!vez back in power
after a failed coup attempt in 2002 ? complained this month that the
amendment package being voted on Dec. 2, including a proposal to
eliminate presidential term limits, constituted a constitutional "coup
d'etat," he was immediately branded a traitor.
Given how profoundly Ch!vez has altered hemispheric politics in recent
years, it's not surprising that he seems to be leading the so-called
democratator trend in the region. In Bolivia and Ecuador, left-wing
Presidents and Ch!vez allies Evo Morales and Rafael Correa are
hammering out new Constitutions that would let them run for re-election
indefinitely. In Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega, hoping to relive
the broad Marxist powers he enjoyed as President in the 1980s, is
ruling virtually by decree. In Argentina, many suspect that the leftist
husband-and-wife team of outgoing President Nestor Kirchner and
President-elect Cristina Fern!ndez de Kirchner intend to alternate in
the Casa Rosada (the Pink House, or presidential palace) well into the
next decade if not beyond. And in Colombia, sup****ters of conservative
President and staunch U.S. ally Alvaro Uribe are clamoring to change
their magna carta to give him a third term (which he has yet to say
he'd reject) if not more. (This week's feud between Chavez and Uribe is
a disheartening preview of democratators at each other's throats.)
A decade after most of Latin America returned to democratic elections,
it was thought by now the region would also be governed more completely
by democratic institutions. Instead, says Robert White, head of the
Center for International Policy in Wa****ngton, D.C., and a former U.S.
ambassador in Latin America, "Personalismo is alive and well,"
referring to the region's historical penchant for protracted personal
rule. A chief reason, White notes, is that traditional democracy and
capitalism have largely failed to improve Latin America's gaping
inequality and frightening insecurity ? so voters have largely decided
to "cling as long as possible" to leaders like Chavez and Uribe who
they feel can. "The failure of democratic institutions like judiciaries
has led us back to personalismo, this time lightly fettered by
constitutional structures," says White. The U.S. has been complicit, he
adds, by regularly and rather lazily sending signals to Latin America
that free elections alone are enough to build democracies.
Ch!vez backers of course reject the democratator label. "Yes, the
intent of socialism is that the collective interest predominate over
individual interests," says Haiman El Troudi, director of the Miranda
Center in Caracas, a policy research think tank set up by the
government. "But if our agenda were Stalinist we would have imposed it
by now. Instead we're subjecting these reforms to an election ?
totalitarian states don't do that." Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela's
ambassador to the U.S., concurs: "We're trying to create
institutionality in Latin America precisely because its present
institutions don't function." As for unlimited presidential
re-election, Alvarez notes that Ch!vez will still be subject to
elections to remain in power ? and he adds wryly that the U.S., "where
the Bush and Clintons families have been alternating power since 1989,"
is in no position to lecture.
Observers like White agree the U.S. will have to patiently resign
itself to Latin America's democratator phenomenon for now. "In the end
it's the Latin Americans themselves who have to come to the
understanding that even if they can't trust their judicial and
legislative institutions," says White, "the lack of them is leading to
an executive absolutism that won't be good for them, either."
[With re****ting by Jens Erik Gould/Caracas ]
***
[Here's how the Biz Press is covering the Referendum: BLOOMBERG:
"Divided Nation," "Close Race," [Gee didn't they say that about the
Recall Referendum?] and "Abstentionism," which most news outlets and
polls have already dismissed. Meanwhile, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL is
hammering away on Chavez's "unprecedented" powers being expanded," lack
of independence for BANKS and Fidel Castro-like communism. And this is a
NEWS story, not an Op-Ed, a Column or an Editorial. Rupert Murdoch's
muddy footprints are already all over the new pages. -NY Transfer]
Bloomberg - November 30, 2007
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=a2gw732qpO78&refer=latin_america
Chavez Confronts Divided Nation in Constitution Vote
By Matthew Walter and Helen Murphy
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, after nine years of easy electoral victories,
faces something new this weekend: a close race.
A referendum will decide the fate of Chavez's plan to expand his powers
by ending presidential term limits, allowing emergency rule, and making
it easier to seize private property, among other items. Should it pass,
the Venezuelan president will get almost complete power over local
budgets and spending.
``After standing by the president in all he's done, we think this
reform isn't necessary,'' said Arcadio Montiel, a lawmaker with the
Podemos party, which split from Chavez's ruling coalition earlier this
year. ``For the first time, the people aren't going to obey the
president.''
Opposition to the proposal gained momentum this month, as the Podemos
party and a former defense minister broke ranks with Chavez, calling
the plan a power grab. Some pollsters say the outcome of the Dec. 2
vote is too close to call a year after Chavez won re-election with 63
percent sup****t.
``The opposition stands on the precipice of handing Hugo his worst
defeat since the 48-hour coup'' in 2002, said Edwin Gutierrez, who
manages about $5.5 billion of emerging-market debt for Aberdeen Asset
Management in London. ``The big fear is that Chavez decides to win
regardless -- he doesn't accept defeat well and the streets could get
messy.''
The two sides are nearly neck and neck after Chavez led most polls in
the months before referendum, local pollster Hinterlaces has said.
Venezuelan law prohibits the publication of poll results in the week
before the election.
Two-Part Ballot
Voters will consider the changes in a two-part ballot. The first block
of 33 measures includes the elimination of term limits. The second set
of 36 changes includes rules to guarantee gay rights and make it easier
to fire judges.
Venezuela's opposition has failed to curb Chavez's expanding powers
over the past nine years. A general strike ended with half the
workforce purged from the state oil company, and Chavez handily
defeated a recall referendum. The opposition's boycott of congressional
elections solidified his power, giving Chavez's coalition every seat in
congress and control of the courts, central bank and state media.
The proposed changes to the constitution, approved by congress, opened
cracks in Chavez's coalition. Some loyalists, such as former general
and ex-Defense Minister Raul Baduel, called the plan a grab for power
that was unconstitutional.
Baduel, Armed Forces
Earlier this week, Baduel, who helped restore Chavez to power during
the 2002 coup, repeated his call to the armed forces and all citizens
to reject the constitutional proposal.
Clashes between protesters and police turned violent in recent weeks as
opponents, including the Catholic Church, students and business groups,
took to the streets to rally voters to go to the polls.
Tens of thousands of people, including opposition parties and
university student groups, flooded a main boulevard in downtown Caracas
yesterday, waving Venezuelan flags and banners to urge voters to reject
the new constitution. Chavez sup****ters are planning their own march in
the capital today.
The outcome will probably depend on voter turnout, since Chavez
sup****ts have historically been more likely to participate, said
Liliana Fasciani, a legal philosophy professor at the Universidad
Catolica Andres Bello in Caracas and a newspaper columnist.
Abstention
``Abstention helps the government,'' she said in a telephone interview.
``The outcome is all going to depend on whether there is a huge
participation level, or if people are afraid to vote or don't have
confidence in the system.''
Abstention has been fueled by what opposition politicians say are
efforts by Chavez and his sup****ters in Congress and the courts to
erode voters' confidence in the confidentiality of their ballots.
In the presidential election of December last year, the opposition
filed two dozen complaints with the national electoral courts and
international observers, saying authorities ignored requests for
information on voting-machine software, on the fingerprint devices
being used to establish voters' identity and the disposition of voting
booths.
After a recall referendum on Chavez in 2004, people who signed a recall
petition were put on a list that prevented their hiring by any state
company. Some people were fired.
Steering the ****p
``Blacklisting left a mark in the memories of voters that has taken
years to erase,'' said Roberto Abdul, a director at Sumate, a
civic-action group that organized the recall bid.
Should the constitution changes pass, Chavez will be able to turn huge
swaths of existing states into federal territories and create communal
councils that would undermine existing city governments.
The president says the changes are necessary to deepen his
``Bolivarian'' socialist revolution aimed at redistributing the
country's oil revenue to the poor.
``I'll spend the rest of my life fighting for the future of the
Venezuelan people,'' Chavez said in a speech Nov. 28. The new
constitution is needed ``so that I can continue steering the ****p of
the Republic, so that the revolution doesn't go away.''
***
The Wall Street Journal - November 30, 2007
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119638945019909025.html
In Venezuela, Big Choice for Voters
By Jose de Cordoba
CARACAS, Venezuela -- Venezuelans will vote Sunday on sweeping
constitutional changes that would give an enormous boost to President
Hugo Ch!vez's unprecedented powers, while setting up the legal
framework to make Venezuela -- the U.S.'s fourth-largest oil supplier
- -- into a socialist regime along Cuban lines.
The proposed changes would eliminate the central bank's independence,
sharply limit the role and definition of private property and
emasculate the powers of governors and mayors, allowing Mr. Ch!vez to
literally redraw the political map of Venezuela. Under the new charter,
Mr. Ch!vez could unilaterally set and dispose of the nation's
foreign-currency reserves. He would be able to appoint or dismiss vice
presidents who would rule over the country's 24 states, which he
intends to group into six to eight regions. Perhaps, most im****tant for
Mr. Ch!vez, the changes would allow for his unlimited re-election.
"He becomes a king," said Rafael Simn Jim(c)nez, a former political ally
of the president and a past vice president of the country's congress.
"What Ch!vez wants to do is rule the country until the day he dies."
Polls indicate the vote will be close, turning the referendum into a
political challenge for Mr. Ch!vez, who has dominated Venezuelan
politics since his election in 1998. In the past decade, Mr. Ch!vez has
twice won re-election, pushed through a constitution in 1999 -- which
these changes would scrap -- and has beaten back a recall referendum,
all by landslide margins.
Already Mr. Ch!vez controls the congress, the courts, the electoral
commission and most state and city governments. He has nationalized the
telephone company and main power company and increased government
control over the oil industry.
Mr. Ch!vez remains popular with many poor Venezuelans, on whom he has
spent billions on programs subsidizing food, education and health. They
may like some of the proposed changes -- like cutting the workday from
eight to six hours and providing pensions for street peddlers and other
informal workers -- but many of the same sup****ters are cool toward Mr.
Ch!vez's plan for turning the country into a socialist regime. "This
business which is mine may not end up being mine," said Luis Pea, who
runs a mom-and-pop store in a Caracas barrio and has previously
sup****ted Mr. Ch!vez. "We don't want more socialism."
Mr. Ch!vez, 53 years old, has turned the constitutional referendum into
a plebiscite on his rule. "Whoever says he's for Ch!vez and votes 'no'
is a traitor," he told thousands of followers at one recent rally. He
has told sup****ters he would consider stepping down if the
constitutional changes lose.
At home and abroad, Mr. Ch!vez has had a number of setbacks in recent
weeks. On the international front, Spain's King Juan Carlos, in an
unprecedented display of royal ire, publicly told the voluble Mr.
Ch!vez to "shut up" at a conference of Latin American heads of state
where Mr. Ch!vez persisted in calling a former Spanish prime minister a
"fascist." Days later, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe abruptly ended
Mr. Ch!vez's high-profile role in negotiating the release of hostages
held by Colombia's communist guerrillas after the Venezuelan spoke
directly with the head of Colombia's military, despite an agreement not
to do so.
In retaliation, Mr. Ch!vez said he would freeze relations with Spain
until the king apologized. After doing the same with Colombia, Mr.
Ch!vez on Wednesday said he wouldn't "have anything to do with [Mr.
Uribe] or with the Colombian government." In Bogot!, Colombian Foreign
Minister Fernando Araujo was cautious, saying Colombia hadn't received
any official word on the state of relations.
On the home front, Mr. Ch!vez has been bedeviled by the rise of a
nationwide student-protest movement that has organized marches of tens
of thousands of students, a showing that has invigorated a dispirited
opposition. Even as shoppers flock to stores overflowing with im****ted
merchandise, Venezuelans are facing shortages of basic foodstuffs such
as milk -- mainly caused by the imposition of price controls, which
have nevertheless failed to tame inflation of 17% a year. Many
Venezuelans are frustrated as well with Mr. Ch!vez's failure to deal
with the country's high level of violent crime.
Earlier this month, Mr. Ch!vez was sideswiped by the defection of a
prominent comrade in arms, his former defense minister, retired Gen.
Ral Baduel. In news conferences, Mr. Baduel, considered a hero by
Chavistas for restoring Mr. Ch!vez to power after a short-lived coup in
2002, has repeatedly called the proposed reforms a "coup d'etat" and
urged the president to withdraw them. "I have a moral duty to defend
the constitution now as I did before," said Mr. Baduel in an interview.
In a poll, Datanalisis, an independent polling company that has
accurately predicted the results of past elections, gave the "no" vote
a lead of two to five percentage points, depending on voter turnout.
Datanalisis director Luis Vicente Leon said Mr. Ch!vez's campaigning,
his insistent focus on the souring of relations with neighboring
Colombia -- which Mr. Ch!vez has used to stir nationalist passions --
and his attempt to make the vote a referendum on himself appears to
have struck a chord with Venezuelans, reversing what had been a trend
to vote against the changes. The ability of the government's political
machine to get voters to the polls may give it an edge in Sunday's
vote, Mr. Leon said. That edge, however, would be eroded if voter
turnout is high.
The Catholic Church, evangelical Christian pastors, many unions and
professional associations, and most law-school deans and university
rectors have condemned the proposed constitutional changes. They said
the referendum is illegal because the only way to make such deep
changes is through a constitutional convention.
But Mr. Ch!vez has put the full weight of the government's political
machinery behind the campaign to approve the reforms. The country is
plastered with posters urging Venezuelans to vote "yes" on the
referendum. Mr. Chavez, who is normally on the air giving speeches and
news conferences for about 40 hours a week, has become even more
omnipresent than usual on the nation's airwaves. Many Venezuelans fear
they will lose government jobs, loans and contracts if they vote
against Mr. Ch!vez, as has happened before.
"I will stay until my skeleton is dry, until my blood stops flowing,"
said Mr. Ch!vez, talking of his plans to govern forever if the
constitutional reforms permitting his re-election are approved.
***
[Finally the usual Romero garbage from The New York Times. The URL is
below if you want to read it, followed by Pablo's Miami Herald poison,
which we're not even supplying a URL for, quite delibrately. The stupid
headline says it all; if yoou want to read it, look it up. - NY
Transfer]
he New York Times - November 30, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/world/americas/30venez.html
In Ch!vez Territory, Signs of Dissent
By Simon Romero
***
Constitutional changes raise democracy concerns
By Pablo Bachelet
The Miami Herald
November 29, 2007
*
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