August 7, 2008
Venezuelans Protest Chavez’s New Socialist Push
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 12:31 a.m. ET
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Riot police used tear gas Wednesday as
they blocked hundreds of Venezuelans protesting what they call new
moves by President Hugo Chavez to concentrate his power. The
demonstrators said a blacklist barring key opposition candidates
from elections and a series of socialist decrees are destroying
what’s left of their democracy.
Though the protest of about 1,000 people chanting ”freedom!” was
small compared to past marches, there is a growing public outcry
over the sidelining of key government opponents ahead of state and
local elections in November.
Chavez opponents also are outraged by 26 laws the president just
decreed, some of them mirroring the socialist measures voters
rejected in a December referendum.
Chavez said in a speech Wednesday night that their concerns are
grossly overblown.
”This is a democracy. They call me a tyrant — tyrants govern
without laws. We’re making laws, and all those laws are for the
benefit of the country,” Chavez said.
Chavez issued the decrees just before the expiration of special
legislative powers that allowed him to make laws without National
Assembly approval for the past 18 months.
For a time after the defeat of his constitutional referendum —
which would have imposed radical economic changes and let him run
for re-election indefinitely — Chavez seemed to be taking a more
pragmatic, less confrontational approach to his socialist project.
But the decrees suggest the leftist leader is pushing hard again to
remake Venezuelan society.
”We said in the referendum that we didn’t want that, and now he’s
put it in the decrees,” said protester Josefina Bravo, a 59-year-
old who wore a sticker reading ”No means no” on her baseball
cap. ”That’s the problem we have: All the powers are concentrated
in the president.”
One decree establishes a civilian militia that critics warn could
emulate the citizen groups that control many aspects of community
life in Cuba. Another gives Chavez the ability to designate regional
authorities who critics say could undermine the power of locally
elected officials.
Other decrees empower Chavez to expropriate goods from private
businesses and increase state control over food, punishing business
owners who fail to comply with price controls or other regulations
with fines, closure and even 10-year prison terms.
Chavez touted another law he said will strengthen the military by
establishing regional zones headed by single commanders and bringing
together army, air force, navy and National Guard forces. ”It’s a
marvelous law,” he said. ”This is one single armed force.”
The decrees came down just as the Supreme Court, whose justices were
appointed by the Chavista-dominated National Assembly, on Tuesday
upheld a decision by Venezuela’s top anti-corruption official to bar
272 largely opposition-aligned candidates from running.
The blacklist was drawn up by another Chavez ally, Comptroller
General Clodosbaldo Russian. None of the candidates on the list have
been convicted of corruption or other crimes. Opponents note that
some pro-Chavez politicians who have been publicly accused of
corruption aren’t on the list.
Russian said his office has not singled out either political camp.
And Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Wednesday that the
disqualifications affect mostly pro-Chavez candidates, while
sidelining only a small percentage of all the opposition candidates
in the country.
He said Venezuelans should be proud that the Supreme Court
has ‘’stuck to the constitution. ”
Chavez said anybody who objects to his decrees is free to challenge
them to the Supreme Court. But opponents figure there is little
chance the justices will rule against this president. A day after
upholding the blacklist, the same court on Wednesday dismissed a
challenge by popular Caracas mayoral candidate Leopoldo Lopez and
five other blacklisted politicians.
Referring to the group as ”little boys,” Maduro accused Lopez of
considering himself above the law because he’s from the
capital’s ”bourgeoisie, ” and challenged him to prove his innocence.
But these opponents say the Chavistas have achieved what amounts to
a presidential coup, sidelining any opponents with a good chance of
winning mayoral and gubernatorial posts. Lopez accused Chavez and
the Supreme Court of ”giving a kick to the constitution’ ‘ as he
spoke to demonstrators.
”You’re afraid of the people and you, president, hid behind the
Supreme Court,” he said.
Lopez led protesters down a Caracas avenue before police in riot
gear blocked them in front of a government building, tossing tear
gas canisters into the crowd. Protest leaders vowed more marches,
including a larger one Saturday.
——–
Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez and Rachel Jones, in
Caracas, contributed to this report.
http://www.nytimes. com/aponline/ world/AP- Venezuela- Chavez-Power. html?
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