Opinion
- Editorial- Commentary
Chris
Kraul: Chavez
reforms face opposition
Less than three weeks from a vote on his proposal to overhaul the Venezuelan
constitution and strengthen his grip on power, President Hugo Chavez is facing
an uncharacteristic reversal in public opinion.
A growing number of students and voters say they
oppose the constitutional overhaul because they
believe it is anti-democratic. But despite that,
Chavez's bid to bolster his 21st-century socialism
is widely expected to pass.
Surveys by two independent pollsters show that
only a third of Venezuelans support the changes,
which have been criticised as a ploy to increase
socialisation and militarisation of the country,
and further concentrate power in Chavez's hands.
Ever since the final draft of the proposal was
unveiled November 2, student groups from universities
across Venezuela have taken to the streets to demonstrate
against the package or to demand that the vote
be postponed.
Student leaders and other critics have slammed
the lack of transparency in the process by which
Chavez and the national assembly drafted changes
to 69 articles in the constitution.
Demonstrations at times have turned violent. One
female student protester was shot to death in Zulia
state early this month, and eight were wounded
in a separate incident in Caracas last week.
The
sharpest blow to Chavez came last week when his
former defence minister and confidante, retired
Gen Raul Baduel, called a news conference to describe
the proposal as "fraudulent" and akin
to a coup. On Monday he again said publicly that
voters should turn out to defeat the proposal.
Baduel, who helped restore Chavez to power after
an abortive April 2002 coup, was immediately denounced
as a traitor by Chavez loyalists.
One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because he was not authorised to speak publicly,
said it was hard to determine whether Baduel represented
a significant cross-section of disaffected officers
in the ranks.
Even
analysts who in the past have trod a middle ground
in Venezuela's highly polarised political
landscape and who have praised aspects of Chavez's
social agenda expressed alarm this week about the "recentralisation" of
political power.
Most worrisome for many is the new political hierarchy
it would create: a series of newly designated political
regions and municipalities whose leaders would
be appointed by Chavez and whose powers could supersede
those of elected governors and mayors.
In a key change that worries many observers, the
reform would redefine the role of the military
from protecting national sovereignty to also
insuring domestic peace. Moreover, the military
would take on a greater role in social and economic
policies.
Daniel
Hellinger, a professor of political science at
Webster University in St Louis, said the reform
proposal has "divided the Chavista movement
internally".
"Some of the reforms are innovative mechanisms
designed to decentralise and democratise how oil
profits are distributed and used, but others concentrate
additional powers in an already powerful presidency," Hellinger
said.
Even Chavez's ex-wife, Marisabel Rodriguez, piled
on this week, telling reporters that her former
husband is wrong to change the 1999 constitution.
Chavez
supporters say a new constitution is the will
of the majority of voters who have supported
Chavez in five nationwide votes since he took power
in 1999. As Chavez reminded reporters on Tuesday,
he has never made a secret of his socialist agenda
to transform Venezuela, which he claims has suffered
from centuries of "economic imperialism".
Miguel Tinker Salas, a professor of Latin American
history at Pomona College, said some critics
are overreacting, that the reforms "seek
to institutionalise much of the political changes
we have seen proposed in the past eight years" with
the support of most Venezuelans.
But opponents say he is going too far by proposing
that he be allowed to run for re-election indefinitely.
The presidential terms also would be extended from
six to seven years.
But Caracas-based constitutional law and human-rights
expert Gerardo Fernandez said unlimited re-election
leads to dictatorship in countries with weak democratic
institutions.
Fernandez is also concerned about the proposal's
effect on businesses and private property owners,
saying that communal property rights will be strengthened
and individual property rights weakened in the
new charter.
Hellinger
said perhaps the proposal's most controversial
change is one that expands the president's authority
to limit speech and detain individuals in emergencies.
Though commonly found in democratic constitutions,
the emergency measures "elicited criticism
from several former Chavista officials, not just
from the opposition," Hellinger said.
Chris
Kraul is LA Times
Bureau Chief in Bogota. Petroleumworld not necessarily
share these views.
Editor's
Note: This article was first publish in LA
Times, Sunday, November 16th 2007. Petroleumworld
reprint this article in the interest
of our readers.
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Petroleumworld
11/ 18/07
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Chris
Kraul .
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